OC Transpo express route changes you may have missed

Ottawa commuters returning to work or school after a long holiday may notice some changes to OC Transpo fares and the numbers on their daily bus routes.

The changes to fares came into effect on Jan. 1st and route number changes began on Christmas Day, but with many students returning to school after two weeks of holidays, Monday may be their first time noticingthe differences.

While the routes have not changed, OC Transpo customer services manager David Pepper said the changes are not common and "quite significant."

'Connexion' routes

Almost 40 express routes not only have new numbers, but a new name, too. They willnow be known as "Connexion" routes, because when the Confederation Line opens in 2018, these routes will connect to an LRT station instead of taking passengers directly downtown.

"All they need to know iswhat their new route number is, and that's easy to find out because it will be on the bus curtain on the front of the bus, or on any of many of the different posters located at stations," Pepper said.

• Check to seewhat the new number is for your express route
• See OC Transpo's new fares for 2017

OC Transpo outreach staff are set to be wearing "vibrant" yellow and orange vests on Monday to offer help, he added.

Pepper said they will be keeping an eye on express route passengers, particularly those routes that would have stopped at stations after Tunney's Pasture and may be surprised that most westward afternoon express buses now bypass a number of stops.

"Those now have limited service and they go directly from Tunney's Pasture, either directly to Bayshore Station or directly to Baseline Station," he said.

The new "Connexion" routes will still be operating as express routes until mid-2018, but as of Jan. 1, there no longer have express fares. Instead, there is only a single adult fare under a new, simplified system: express monthly passes have decreased by almost $17 while regular adult passes have increased by $8.