Being a college student who lives off campus and has to take the OC Transpo every single day to class can be a hassle. I really have to plan ahead so I have enough time to get ready; like what time do I wake up at? This opens up the question: Is the OC Transpo worth taking? The bus arrives every 15-30 minutes; however, the time varies as the bus could be early or late. This can be difficult as they cannot always be relied-upon considering they don’t always arrive on time.
The OC Transpo uses diesel busses so they will emit CO2 within the atmosphere; however, the O-Train uses electricity. The O-Train only runs to downtown and the surrounding area, so this does not help Algonquin students (until the line is finished in 2024). An article analyzed the costs of different types of transit (city buses), and the carbon dioxide emissions that these buses expel when driving through the city, “Hybrid buses have moderately lower carbon dioxide emissions during the service life than diesel buses whereas fully electric buses have potential to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions, by up to 75%” (Lajunen & Lipman, 2016). In Ottawa’s case, our buses are full diesel which expel more carbon dioxide than using a car to get to the same destination. Another important thing to consider is that the buses can hold up to 60 people at once, rather than 1-4 people in a singular car.
I feel that the use of OC Transpo would be more beneficial if the main busses were hybrid rather than diesel powered, which would have a more positive impact on the environment. Another thing to consider is the traffic within the city. Certain hours of the day have a major impact on the traffic if you’re using a car, but the transit has dedicated lanes so the buses can move past traffic. Different campuses also require parking passes to park on campus’ grounds which can be a hefty cost depending on how close you want to be to the facilities.
With all of this considered, the OC Transpo is a good form of transportation if you don’t have access to a car or want to save money by not taking your car to your classes. If you need some form of transportation that will get you from point A to point B disregarding the times in which the bus arrives and departs, then it is suitable for transportation.
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