An Ottawa city councillor says it’s time for OC Transpo to end its E1 express bus, arguing that the route has become redundant and that its resources could be better spent improving transit elsewhere.
Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo said the route served an important purpose when it was introduced during repeated O-Train disruptions in 2023, but believes that purpose has passed.
“I don’t think it’s something that should still exist because it runs parallel to Line 1,” Lo said. “The original intention of the route is legitimate … but now it’s become redundant.”
The E1 is a weekday peak-period express bus connecting Blair Station with downtown, offering commuters an alternative to Line 1.
The debate comes after Ottawa’s auditor general found the city had not demonstrated whether the route represented the best use of limited transit resources.
A city audit report released in June found that the E1 cost approximately $1.3 million annually to operate and remained in service to help rebuild public confidence in the LRT after years of reliability issues.
Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon found the route was inconsistent with the city’s goal of encouraging riders to use rail as the backbone of the transit system and said officials had not demonstrated whether it represented the best value compared with other possible transit service improvements.
In a statement, Pat Scrimgeour, OC Transpo’s director of transit customer systems and planning, said the E1 “continues to be well used during the morning commute, with approximately 760 customer trips for weekday service.”
But Scrimgeour said ridership had declined since 2025, a trend he said coincided with a reduction in the number of scheduled E1 trips. OC Transpo did not say by how much ridership had declined.
Scrimgeour says the route will continue operating until the O-Train East Extension opens, which remains without an opening date, after which OC Transpo “will assess the need for its ongoing operation.”
He said the route continued to provide additional capacity and redundancy when Line 1 had service problems.
East-end councillor says riders still need the E1
Beacon Hill-Cyrville Coun. Tim Tierney sees the route very differently.
He said residents in his ward continue to rely on the E1 and have embraced it after years of dealing with unreliable rail service and delays to the east LRT extension.
“The people love it,” Tierney said. “It really satisfies that need right now.”
Tierney argued the E1 has become more than just a backup route. He says it gives commuters confidence that they have another reliable option if the LRT experiences service disruptions, particularly as the east extension prepares to open.
“When you open a line and you don’t have redundancy in place, if there’s challenges, you have to make sure that still exists,” he said.
Tierney said OC Transpo general manager Rick Leary had assured him the E1 would remain in service after the O-Train East Extension opened, at least until the expanded rail service had proven reliable.
Councillors offer different solutions for the E1’s future
While the two councillors disagree about whether the E1 should remain, both say the discussion should focus on finding the best solution for transit riders.
Lo says he believes buses currently assigned to the E1 would be better used serving parts of Ottawa without rapid transit.
His preferred solution is a non-stop shuttle between Fallowfield Station and Tunney’s Pasture, which he says would give commuters faster trips without duplicating existing rail service.
“I haven’t even asked for every 10 minutes,” Lo said. “I’ve been asking for supplementary service like every 15 or 20 minutes.”
Lo said west- and south-end city councillors had repeatedly been told there were not enough buses or operators to improve service, making continued operation of the E1 difficult to justify.
Tierney, meanwhile, said the better solution was to keep the E1 in place until the expanded rail network had earned riders’ confidence.
“People learned to adapt to the E1,” Tierney said. “When you open up the new line, of course, we want to make sure, if there’s any issues, people still have that alternative until we can prove that it’s steady and reliable.”
Related
Take control of your search results. Make the Ottawa Citizen a preferred source on Google and see verified local reporting first.
