Strong Towns Ottawa

@strongtownsottawa

We're an urbanist group, focused on safer streets, giving citizens more options, and creating a more financially responsible city. Help us support bus lanes on Bank St: strongtownsottawa.ca/bank

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Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· 27d

We wonder if OCOBIA checked in with the Glebe BIA to see if they support this position of improving transit to help support main streets? This energy would have been wonderful to see before the Glebe BIA fought tooth and nail to gut the hours and try to kill the Bank Street bus lane project...

An ad from OCOBIA (Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas) that says they strongly support improving transit to help support local economies and to strengthen communities.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Jul 3

Interested in hearing from Gio Petti, the creator of "Dude Where's my Bus?" and "The Train to Nowhere"? Join us for our monthly meeting, on July 9th! Info at the following link : luma.com/qe0i650r?tk=... He'll be touching on the importance of local activism, some tips on documentaries, and more!

A poster for the documentary "Dude, Where's My Bus?" by Gio Petti, showing an OC Transpo bus which has a sign at the back saying "A look at Ottawa's messy transit system".

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Jun 25

Seeing streets on a local road ruined with this asphalt where there was previously grass is a bit disappointing. This is on Cartier which is meant to be a local road, yet tons of cut through traffic drives on the sidewalks as they speed along here. Residents deserve safe streets, not speeding.

Asphalt paved over the sidewalk of a bulbout on Cartier street, previously this was covered with grass

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· May 26

We had a great turnout at our book club yesterday to discuss Human Transit, thanks to all who came out, and to Derrick for leading the discussion! There was so much thoughtful discussion about how best to provide transit, should transit be free, and balancing priorities like ridership vs coverage!

Members sit around in a circle discussing Human Transit at the monthly book club

Members at a bike rack outside of the library after the monthly book club

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· May 22

It is wonderful to see the Glebe BIA acknowledge that buses, cycling, and walking are the best way to get a lot of people around in our city. Even though they fought hard against bus lanes to improve public transit very recently, it is wonderful to see them recognize the errors in their ways.

E-mail from the Glebe BIA about the Great Glebe Garage Sale, recommending people to take the bus, walk, or bike to the Garage Sale

E-mail from the Glebe BIA about the Great Glebe Garage Sale which talks about the street closures as well as removal of parking during the garage sale.

E-mail from the Glebe BIA regarding the Great Glebe Garage Sale, where they recommend using alternative transportation, such as cycling or public transit.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· May 22

Last reminder we have our social tonight! Hope to see you all there! We'll also be at the Great Glebe Garage sale the next morning if you want to stop by and visit, or if you even want to help handle the table and talk with passersby! Info for that available here : luma.com/eukwpt7c?tk=...

A poster for Strong Towns Ottawa's monthly social gathering, this month, on Friday, May 22nd, 2026, from 7pm onwards, at Braumeister Bierhalle, 175 Carruthers Ave.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· May 19

We have our monthly social this Friday at 7pm! If you're looking for a great environment to meet local passionate citizens, have some good food and drinks, and chat about the upcoming projects in the city, join us! Info available at the following link : luma.com/5ds1buue?tk=...

Strong Towns Ottawa members sitting around tables at their monthly social gathering

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· May 15

Wow, what an amazing turnout last night for our May monthly meeting! We got to hear from Nico Larco, author of The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook. We're honoured that he was able to make the time for us while visiting Ottawa. Highly recommend checking out his book if you can!

Members of Strong Towns Ottawa standing around the meeting room participating in the icebreaker where they introduce themselves to each other

Nico Larco standing at the front of the meeting, presenting on Sustainable Urban Design to the Strong Towns Ottawa group.

Strong Towns Ottawa members posing at the end of the May monthly meeting.

Strong Towns Ottawa members listening to Nico Larco present

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· May 13

City's are for people. Making use of patio space, especially in places where parking is taking up much of the streetspace, is a great way to revitalize areas and allow people to enjoy the outdoors!

Image of a patio where parking would be in front of Pure Kitchen on Elgin Street in Ottawa

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· May 6

The City of Ottawa released a report regarding compensation for transit users. One of the main ways they identified to make the service better in the short term was transit priority measures, one of the cheapest ones identified was continuous bus lanes! This is cheap and easy, do it now!

Illustrative option A2 – Implement additional transit priority measures

Some of the transit priority measures identified in the Transportation Master Plan – Part 2 (ACS2025-PDB-TP-0012), or measures identified through other work, could be introduced through one-time funding.

To improve travel times and reduce variability of bus service, funding could be invested in transit priority measures, such as:

Excerpt from the staff report :

Continuous bus lanes, at $20,000 to $100,000 per kilometre, if done by lane conversion. As examples, continuous bus lanes through lane conversion are currently being studied for locations on Carling Avenue.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 25

2015 vs 2022. Montreal road 🚲

Side-by-side comparison of Montreal Road in 2015 vs 2022.

Top (2015): A busy, slightly worn streetscape with multiple cars.

Bottom (2022): The same view after a new protected bike lane was added. It shows a streetscape with widened sidewalks, new paving, benches, and a bus stop.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 25

Amazing turn out last night for the social! Thank you to everyone who joined us, it's always a blast 😁 Our next event is book club on Monday, this one is gonna be a good one! We'll be discussing If You Want To Win You've Got To Fight, join us even if you haven't read! luma.com/9hsntyd2?tk=...

Members of Strong Towns Ottawa at a couple tables for their April Monthly social gathering

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 24

There is a public information session on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m (Carlsbad Springs Community Centre - 6020 Piperville Road) regarding the Tewin project. We strongly encourage anyone who can to make it out. If this project must go forward, it needs the following :

An invitation to the Tewin open house on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, from 6:30-8:30 pm, at Carlsbad Springs Community Centre, 6020 Piperville Rd., Ottawa, ON

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 13

Bank Street is about 1.3Km. Imagine how good bus lanes would be for transit service, not just on the 6 & 7, but every route that connects to them. strongtownsottawa.ca/bank

Google Earth of Bank Street and the Glebe with a ruler showing the length of Bank street at about 1305 metres.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 13

"Heritage" 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

A picture of the building at 267 O'Connor, which is mostly just a rectangular brick building with a very large parking lot sitting beside it.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 10

Such an amazing turnout last night at our monthly meeting! Great conversations about next steps for bus lanes on Bank Street, the upcoming election, and our future advocacy! If you're looking to join in on the fun, check out our next events at luma.com/STO We look forward to seeing you there!

Members of Strong Towns Ottawa pose for a picture after the April Monthly Meeting

Members of Strong Towns Ottawa introducing themselves to each other during the ice breaker

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 10

Here's a map of the current congestion around the core of the city of Ottawa today right around noon. As you can see, pretty much the only place that is backed up with congestion is in the area where the pilot study for bus lanes is. Yet apparently this isn't "peak hours" to some? 🤔🤔

A map of the congestion happening in the city of Ottawa at around noon on a Friday. There is a red circle around the section of Bank Street in the Glebe which shows significant delays. The rest of the map is almost all fully green with no delays.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 10

For reference this is what the "data collection" motion did to the hours of the bus lanes. Certainly doesn't just seem like "collecting data" to us...

Graph showing the hours where the bus lanes would be in effect going Northbound for the pilot before and after Menard's motion, which cut down the hours by 33% (1 hr of the 3hrs)

Graph showing the hours where the bus lanes would be in effect going Southbound for the pilot before and after Menard's motion, which cut down the hours by 33% (1 hr of the 3hrs)

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 10

Describing gutting the hours that the bus lanes will be in effect by 33% (2 of the 6 hours) as "cleaning up a few things around data collection in particular" is certainly a very interesting way to tell the public/other councillors what you're trying to do... Please contact your local councillor.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 8

Disappointment at council today. Council just passed a motion from Councillor Menard for the Bank Street bus lane study which will restrict bus lanes even further from staff's proposed 3 hours to 2 hours. This means we will get no data about how parking affects bus flow in the area.

Motion brought forth to council by Councillor Menard, which sought to restrict the bus lanes on Bank Street from 3 hours in each peak direction to 2 hours.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 7

Tomorrow City Council will discuss and vote on the final approval for the Bank Street bus lane pilot. We still think it is a huge mistake that the city took out their planned event day bus lanes. Every side seems to support this, here's Darrell Cox (BIA Executive Director) saying it's a great idea

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 1

To provide a pleasant experience for all we must ensure that there is enough parking for everyone to come. We will be tearing down all of the structures put in place around Lansdowne to make sure that we can fit as many cars as possible in the location, to improve accessibility!

An older aerial picture of Lansdowne before much of the newer changes, when most of the lot was a large parking lot near the stadium.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Apr 1

Starting today, we will begin our newest campaign to advocate for Bank Street to be widened so that we can make sure to provide as much parking as possible. We will start with tearing down all of the businesses that stand in the way of the space for our wonderful new parking lanes!

An image of a stroad, lots of stores/shops on the side of a very wide road with lots of cars on it.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Mar 29

Today is the final day to be able to sign up to delegate tomorrow at PWIC in favour of bus lanes on Bank Street. Please if you haven't done so and are interested take a read through our page here that explains how to take part! Every voice matters! strongtownsottawa.ca/2026/03/23/f...

A collage of images from Strong Towns Ottawa efforts to support 24/7 bus lanes on Bank Street

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Mar 25

We have sent a letter out with our 4 key asks for the upcoming Bus Lanes on Bank Street report coming to PWIC on March 30th. You can read the asks here : strongtownsottawa.ca/2026/03/24/o... The letter is also attached in the post. Want to delegate? strongtownsottawa.ca/2026/03/23/f...

The first page of a letter from Strong Towns Ottawa to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, sent on March 24th, 2026. The letter makes the argument that our transit system is in a crisis and our city needs to be bold because of that. The asks are to implement the pilot project by summer of 2026, not 2027, to extend dedicated bus lanes to weekends and events, to operate bus lanes in both directions, and to extend the hours to at minimum 6am-6pm, and ideally to 24/7.

The full letter can be found here : https://strongtownsottawa.ca/2026/03/24/open-letter-bus-lanes-on-bank-street.html

The second page of a letter from Strong Towns Ottawa to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, sent on March 24th, 2026. The letter makes the argument that our transit system is in a crisis and our city needs to be bold because of that. The asks are to implement the pilot project by summer of 2026, not 2027, to extend dedicated bus lanes to weekends and events, to operate bus lanes in both directions, and to extend the hours to at minimum 6am-6pm, and ideally to 24/7.

The full letter can be found here https://strongtownsottawa.ca/2026/03/24/open-letter-bus-lanes-on-bank-street.html

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Mar 24

With the extremely unfortunate passing of the crossing guard in Barrhaven following a hit and run, it is notable that one of the roads in the intersection he was working on has no sidewalks. This feels even more tragic knowing that there are people fighting against sidewalks in Manor Park.

Two pedestrians walking on the road on Cedarview road, which has no sidewalks

A pedestrian walking on the road on Cedarview road, which has no sidewalks

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Mar 23

It is unfortunate that even though the city staff running the study for Bank Street Bus Lanes agrees with us that bus lanes should be in effect longer, on weekends, should operate in both directions, and that they should be running on events is being stifled by a small minority of very loud voices.

Section of the city staff report for Bus Lanes on Bank Street that says "Ultimately, bus lane hours extending beyond these peak periods, and in the off-peak direction, are recommended, including during a greater number of Lansdowne events and on weekends."

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Mar 21

On the way back, due to a 67s game there was an incredible amount of traffic that we got stuck in. I saw hundreds of people on the sidewalk. Again about 45 parked cars holding up a bus load of people Anyone who thinks that more space for cars is the solution isn't being honest

View from inside a bus. There are many cars in front of the bus.

View from inside a bus of a line of people on the sidewalk. Two parked cars take up the same amount of space as about 30 people waiting in line.

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Mar 20

One concerning piece from the city's proposal for Bank Street bus lanes is that they seem to have removed large event bus lanes. Even though according to their own report, this is probably the most important time for bus lanes to be present. Please sign up to delegate for the March 30th meeting!

Text taken from the City of Ottawa's report for bus lanes on Bank Street with the following text : "Travel times are longest during major events, up to 18 minutes, when the high volume of buses, passenger drop-offs, staging, and increased pedestrian and vehicle activity affect both event attendees and other road users traveling through the corridor." The text "Travel times are longest during major events, up to 18 minutes" has been highlighted in yellow

Text from the City of Ottawa study on Bank Street reads : "During major events, parking demand within the study area exceeds supply, and this contributes to the large-scale adoption of transit by people travelling to major Lansdowne events." with the text : "large-scale adoption of transit by people travelling to major Lansdowne events." highlighted.

Text from the City of Ottawa study reads : "At this time, the pilot is not envisioned to affect transit or road operations during major events at Lansdowne"

The City of Ottawa's proposal during the open house in 2025 showing that they had intended for bus lanes to be in effect "in both directions during major events".

Strong Towns Ottawa@strongtownsottawa· Mar 19

City staff has released the agenda for the PWIC March 30th meeting, where Bank Street Bus Lanes will be discussed (item 5.2). Please consider signing up to delegate in favour of expanding bus lanes further. On-street parking is extremely underused here and is standing in the way of real progress.