Executive Summary
Introduction
The Transportation Master Plan identifies the transportation facilities and services that the City of Ottawa will implement to serve a projected population of 1.14 million people by 2031. It sets direction for the City’s day-to-day transportation programs, and provides a basis for budget planning. It supports the Ottawa 20/20 growth management strategy and the City’s Official Plan, which guides the City’s physical development.
This plan will come to life through mechanisms such as long-range financial plans, mid-range implementation plans, annual budgets, program development, area and corridor transportation studies, design or practice guidelines, and Community Design Plans. The need to update this plan will be reviewed in conjunction with a similar assessment of the City’s Official Plan, which is required every five years. Over the intervening time period, readers seeking a current statement of City transportation policies must consult the record of Council decisions in addition to this plan.
Current and Future Conditions
Transportation system overview. Ottawa’s transportation system includes walking and cycling facilities, conventional and specialized bus services, Transitway and O-Train rapid transit lines, a road network and parking facilities. City-owned transportation facilities are complemented by freeways owned by the Province of Ontario, and by roads, interprovincial bridges and multi-use pathways owned by the federal government. There are also international and general aviation airports, intercity rail and bus stations, two ferries and a freight yard.
Current travel patterns. During the morning peak hour in 2005 (origin destination survey), about 62% of Ottawa residents traveled by automobile compared to about 21% by transit, 9% by walking, 2% by cycling and 6% by other modes. Transit ridership has seen continuous growth since 1996, and Ottawa residents take transit, on average, 100 times annually—more than residents in any city of comparable size in North America. While average household auto ownership increased by 10% from 1995 to 2005, the number of daily trips per person declined slightly
Future travel patterns. Population and employment are expected to grow by about 30% and 35% respectively by 2031, with urban communities outside the Greenbelt projected to accommodate 68% of new residents and 42% of new jobs. As a result, the overall demand for morning peak hour person-trips on Ottawa’s transportation system will grow by 38%. In view of this growth, this plan strives to minimize the future need for new and widened roads while avoiding levels of congestion that would have unacceptable implications for Ottawa’s quality of life. It sets an ambitious transit modal split objective for 2031 of carrying 30% of motorized person-trips in the morning peak hour, a rate significantly greater than the 23% figure observed in 2005. Transit will carry 51% of motorized person-trips to and from Ottawa’s Inner Urban Area (up from 39% in 2005), 33% of trips across the Greenbelt (up from 23%), and 43% of trips to and from Gatineau (up from 16%) during the morning peak hour, in the peak direction.
This plan also sets ambitious objectives for walking and cycling. Respectively, these modes will carry 10% and 3% of all morning peak hour person-trips in 2031, up from 9.3% and 1.7% in 2005 (note these figures are averages for the fall season, and would be higher in summer and lower in winter). This represents a 33% increase in the number of walking trips, and a 139% increase in the number of cycling trips.
Despite these substantial increases in the role of transit, walking and cycling, there will be significantly higher traffic volumes in every major travel corridor during the peak hour.
Strategic Directions
Transportation Vision. This plan identifies a vision that includes 12 elements and 39 supporting principles. The vision expresses how Ottawa’s transportation system can support the community’s social, environmental and economic sustainability, and how it should be managed to ensure accountability and responsiveness to residents and taxpayers. The plan also identifies eight strategic directions that are essential to achieving this vision, as discussed in the following paragraphs. These directions are themes that cut across the policies and programs for specific modes (e.g. active transportation, transit, motor vehicles) outlined in subsequent sections of the plan.
Creating supportive land use. As detailed in the Official Plan, the City will shape development patterns by encouraging compact developments with a mix of uses, and by requiring supportive community and site design practices. Managing transportation demand. The City will develop and implement a transportation demand management (TDM) strategy that uses education, promotion and incentives, often delivered in partnership with employers and other organizations, to make alternatives to driving more attractive, build a positive public attitude towards them, and provide individuals with information and incentives that encourage responsible travel behaviours.
Managing the transportation system. The City will maximize the efficiency and people-moving capacity of existing systems, in order to reduce the need for new infrastructure and services, achieve modal shift objectives, minimize the costs of congestion, and preserve public health. To this end, it will develop and implement new strategies to improve incident management and multimodal traveller information.
Enhancing safety and security. The City will make walking, cycling, transit use and automobile travel safer and more secure through education, engineering and enforcement.
Protecting the environment. The City will work to minimize the environmental effects of transportation infrastructure, services and activities by greening transportation corridors, designing and maintaining infrastructure to minimize impacts on water and land, encouraging cleaner fuel and vehicle technologies, and designing facilities and communities to reduce the impacts of noise.
Managing and maintaining assets. The City will minimize the life-cycle costs of transportation infrastructure and sustain desired levels of service by optimizing its reinvestment and renewal strategies, and by pursuing effective and efficient maintenance through supportive infrastructure design, traffic management and landscaping.
Funding implementation. The City has insufficient funding sources to support the projects and programs that this plan calls for, and it will pursue possible revenue enhancements through channels including development charges, user fees for motor vehicle use, public-private partnerships and financial transfers from senior governments.
Measuring performance. The City will monitor its progress toward key objectives using a framework of transportation performance objectives and indicators to track relevant conditions, actions and impacts.
Active Transportation
Walking, cycling and other forms of human-powered travel are key to Ottawa’s vibrancy and sustainability. They have multiple social, environmental and economic benefits, and collectively represent a priority of this plan.
Supporting measures. The City’s land use and transportation demand management practices will be essential to the creation of physical, social and cultural environments where walking, cycling and other forms of human-powered travel are attractive alternatives. The City will undertake a wide range of supportive initiatives to demonstrate leadership, create walkable and bicycle-friendly communities, educate users, promote active transportation options, improve end of trip facilities and connections to public transit, and explore a possible system of public bicycles.
Walking facilities. The City will emphasize the primary role of pedestrian facilities in building more walkable environments. To this end, the Ottawa Pedestrian Plan (under development) will identify an integrated pedestrian network and implementation strategy. The City will also require walking facilities to provide pedestrian access to transit nodes and between neighbourhoods, and along new and reconstructed roads. Proper design and maintenance are also a priority.
Cycling facilities. The City will implement an integrated cycling network that includes the Spine route system and National Capital Pathways shown on Map 2 and Map 3, and the complementary Community route system identified in the Ottawa Cycling Plan (approved in 2008). It will proactively implement a number of strategic linkages, and will pursue supportive operational and maintenance measures that make cycling a safer and more convenient option.
Multi-use pathways. This plan calls for the provision of urban and rural multi-use pathways (see Map 1 and Map 3) for walking, cycling and other active modes like in-line skating, especially in, adjacent to or across rapid transit corridors, and within and between neighbourhoods. It recognizes the importance of supportive design and construction standards, and of winter maintenance to enable year-round use.
Public Transit
This plan aims to increase the proportion of motorized person-trips carried by transit in the morning peak hour from 23% in 2005 to 30% (a level similar to many European cities) in 2031. Its multi-pronged transit strategy is outlined in the following paragraphs.
Supporting measures. The City will work to make transit more competitive relative to automobile use, and to make it the first choice for as many people as possible. To do so, it will improve the form of development, reduce the supply of abundant free parking at key destinations, improve public awareness and support, level the financial playing field between transit and driving, better integrate transit with other modes, and set priorities for new infrastructure that improve transit’s service advantage wherever possible.
Ease of mobility. The City will improve the mobility it offers to individuals through a variety of initiatives related to route network structure and service standards, rapid transit and transit priority networks, fleet expansion and maintenance, and safety and security:
- It will make the transit system more customer-friendly by developing and strengthening a network of trunk lines and feeder routes that offers greater simplicity, reliability, efficiency and on-time performance, and by reducing uncertainty and waiting times at transfer points. It will continue to optimize interprovincial transit travel in partnership with the Société de transport de l’Outaouais, and to serve residents of villages and rural areas through direct services, Park & Ride lots and support for private or other municipal transit services.
- It will create a greatly expanded network of bus rapid transit and electrified light rail corridors (see Map 4a). It will endeavour to intensify land uses around many rapid transit stations, add new Park & Ride lots where warranted, and offer superior levels of comfort and convenience at those stations that serve high volumes of transferring passengers.
- It will implement a network of transit priority corridors (see Map 4a) to reduce travel times and improve the reliability of transit service in mixed traffic conditions. In some cases, transit priority measures may be used to defer the need for greater capital investments in grade-separated rapid transit facilities.
- It will improve service availability by expanding its bus and rail fleets and reducing the number of spare buses as a proportion of the total fleet.
- It will make transit safer and more secure by expanding its security staff and continuing its partnership, education and outreach efforts in key areas.
Economic efficiency. The City will strive to offer quality transit service at the lowest possible cost. It will endeavour to recover revenues equivalent to at least 50% of operating expenses until an expanded rail transit network is in operation, at which point it will work toward a new cost-recovery target of 55%. It will develop an electronic fare system that can offer flexible transit fare structures including customized fares by user category, time and distance, and will pursue greater contributions from senior governments toward transit operating costs.
Accessibility for customers with disabilities. The City will continue to make conventional transit services more accessible while it also provides door-to-door Para Transpo service. It will design new rapid transit facilities to be accessible, and will acquire only low-floor transit vehicles until its fleet is 100% low-floor by 2015. Until then, low-floor buses will be assigned to routes where they benefit the greatest number of passengers.
Environmental efficiency. The City will strive to reduce transit’s greenhouse gas footprint by improving vehicle fuel efficiency. Future light rail vehicles will be electric, hybrid buses will be phased in over three years, and opportunities to adopt other bus technologies including fuel cells will be monitored.
Roads and Motor Vehicle Use
Roads are the backbone of Ottawa’s transportation system. They serve all modes of travel within the City, and the competing needs and interests of those modes represent a great challenge in the development of an effective and efficient road network. The following paragraphs summarize key issues pertaining to the provision and operation of roads.
City of Ottawa roads. This plan establishes a comprehensive network of several different types of roads, from freeways to local roads (see Map 5 through Map 8). Requirements for new and widened roads result from projections of future automobile and truck volumes, which are expected to increase in all major corridors despite ambitious modal shift targets. The main performance target for roads is operation at 90% of capacity during the morning peak hour, except in the Urban Core where operation at 100% of capacity will be acceptable. These service targets will always be balanced against the vital requirement for public safety, and may be relaxed in corridors or areas where service levels for transit vehicles, pedestrians or cyclists have a higher priority.
Federal and provincial roads. Additional crossing(s) of the Ottawa River will be required by 2031 to serve the increased peak hour travel demand between Ottawa and Gatineau, and to divert heavy trucks from King Edward Avenue and the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge. The City will protect all approaches to possible crossing locations pending the completion of the environmental assessment study of interprovincial crossing being undertaken by the federal government in conjunction with both provincial governments and affected municipalities.
Road right-of-way protection. The City may secure right-of-way for public roads from landowners as a condition of development approval for a subdivision, severance or site plan. The City will protect road rights-of-way through the development approval process, as outlined in the Official Plan, although there may be situations in which the City may choose to reduce its right-of way requirement.
Road design. The City has developed and will apply design guidelines to ensure that all road corridors support adjacent land uses, enhance safety, offer supportive environments for walking, cycling and transit use, provide adequate lighting and maximize greening opportunities. It will review development applications to ensure that road networks offer access and connectivity for pedestrians, cyclists and transit vehicles.
Road safety. The City will develop a comprehensive Road Safety Plan to enhance monitoring and management practices and programs that improve the safety of all road users through engineering, education and enforcement.
Road corridor optimization. The City will conduct a program to optimize the operation of freeway and arterial corridors in an integrated manner. It will strive to eliminate bottlenecks that create delay and compromise safety for road users, while also addressing considerations related to property access, vehicular emissions and conditions for walking, cycling, transit and carpooling.
Area traffic management. Area traffic management preserves quality of life in neighbourhoods by mitigating undesirable effects of motor vehicle use, including excessive volumes and speeds, aggressive driver behaviour and hostile conditions for walking and cycling. The City’s Area Traffic Management Guidelines identify an equitable and consistent process for addressing the needs of neighbourhood residents, businesses and road users through road network modifications, traffic control devices, traffic calming measures, streetscaping, enforcement, transportation demand management and public education.
Ridesharing. This plan projects an average automobile occupancy during the morning peak hour of 1.20 persons per vehicle, about the same as the 2005 observed value of 1.23. By holding this value steady, the City would halt a four-decade downward trend in automobile occupancies and strengthen its ability to provide a desired quality of service on its roadway network. The City will develop an integrated ridesharing strategy to assess opportunities for TDM measures, carpool parking lots and carpool lanes to increase ridesharing in key travel markets, nodes and corridors. It will also promote its online ridematching service, enhance public awareness and understanding of ridesharing opportunities, and study the feasibility of a regional vanpooling service.
Taxis. This plan acknowledges the role of taxis in the transportation system, and encourages improvements to the accessibility of the taxi fleet as well as the provision of taxi stands at a variety of locations.
Goods movement. Many of Ottawa’s major roads are designated as truck routes. While the provision of a comprehensive truck route network enables efficient freight movement through and within Ottawa, trucking activities can be disruptive to communities. The City will continue efforts to protect residential areas from undesirable truck route impacts, including the preservation of alternative routes that can accommodate the loads and manoeuvres of large trucks.
Parking. Steps that the City takes to manage parking in both the public and private realms will contribute to its success in achieving key transportation objectives such as transit ridership targets, land use goals such as compact development and intensification, and economic objectives such as thriving business, institutional, residential and tourism uses in the downtown core. To this end, the City will develop a parking management strategy that defines a program of regular parking assessments in key areas, and identifies strategic parking policies, programs and guidelines. It will conduct a pilot project to showcase proactive parking management strategies in Centrpointe Town Centre, and will also ensure that various key land use by-laws and policies are consistent with its parking management principles.
Intercity Travel
Ottawa’s connections to outside destinations contribute to the community’s economic vitality. While the plan addresses road and transit links, it also acknowledges the importance of supporting air, rail and intercity bus services. The particular importance of ensuring high-quality transit and road connections to major intercity passenger terminals is highlighted. The plan also addresses general aviation, including the City-owned Carp Airport.
Implementation
Capital works plan. This plan includes a phasing strategy for infrastructure projects as a basis for future budget preparation. Infrastructure needs are grouped into phases.
Costs. The cost of building and operating the transportation system identified in this Plan is about $8.36 billion through 2031, including $7.24 billion for capital costs ($5.11 billion for transit and $2.11 billion for roads) and $1.12 billion for operations and maintenance ($938 million for transit and $180 million for roads).
Environmental assessment. Provincially and federally legislated requirements for Environment Assessment studies will also guide the implementation of this plan. While some recommended infrastructure elements have partially completed the related requirements, most elements will be subject to further study, consultation and documentation.