Let’s face it, Ottawa’s transit system is an unmitigated mess. The latest from the big brains who run OC Transpo is the idea of an on-demand transit service to help address shrinking ridership in certain communities.

The service is being introduced in Blackburn Hamlet as a pilot project on weekends using para-transpo-type mini-buses. Bascially, it’s Uber for buses. You call a phone number or use an app to request to be picked up by a bus at a designated bus stop near you. You will then be given a bus stop number and a pick-up time window.

After reading the staff report explaining the service, the one glaring issue that jumps out at you is the term “pick-up time window”. How the time window will be determined is anybody’s guess, but assuming they will only be using one bus for the on-demand service, it will likely range from five minutes to 20 minutes or more, meaning “on-demand” will be totally relative.

It’s just another example of the gang that can’t shoot straight. These guys couldn’t organize a bun fight in a bakery. They couldn’t organize a one-car funeral. They couldn’t organize a book reading at a writer’s convention. Well, you get the picture.

I understand that desperate times deserve desperate measures, but let’s face it, an on-demand transit service that’s not exactly on-demand is a little wacky.

OC Transpo is an absolute mess. Ridership is tanking, which is leading to shrinking revenue and massive deficits. So what do they do? They continue to increase fares – another 2.5 per cent in 2024 – which will only lead to even fewer riders and even bigger deficits. Deficits that will have to be made up through your property taxes.

The only solution is to lower transit fares, not raise them, and hope that the riders will return as gas prices continue to rise. In the meantime, the transit levy on your property tax bill will have to be increased, which means we will all have to subsidize the transit service. The only other solution is to cut underutilized routes without prejudice and limit the service to select main routes. If you want to take the bus you’re going to have to walk for it. At the same time, you will have to expand the para-transpo service to include seniors etc. with mobility issues. There’s no other way unless you’re willing to raise everybody’s taxes.

And while I’m on it, it’s about time that City goes back to the drawing board and begin the search for LRT trains that can be properly integrated with the existing infrastructure and environment. Let’s cut our losses and end the stupidity whereby they keep making the same mistakes over and over while expecting the same results.