L(onge)R T(ravel times): New trip planner shows some will be longer

OC Transpo riders are getting a better idea of how their commutes will change when light rail is finally running.

A new travel planner has been launchedon OC Transpo's website, which showswhat will be different once theeast-west Confederation Line opens between Tunney'sPasture and Blair stations.

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The planner suggests a mixed bag of impacts, with trains replacing buses in Ottawa's downtown making some trips longer, some shorter and some not much different at all.

Trim trip lengthened

For example, taking public transit from Eagleson station in Kanata to Parliament station on Queen Street downtown would go from a 37-minute trip, if you left at 8 a.m. on a weekday, to a 34-minute trip.

The return ride at 5 p.m. would go from 37 to 44 minutes.

An 8 a.m. weekday departure from Trim station in Orlanswould becomea 47-minute trip, up from a 36-minute trip, and the return journeywould become 53 minutes, about nine minutes more than it currently takes.

Many trips will also require a transfer from a bus to a train at Tunney's Pasture or Blair.

Transit commission vice-chair Coun. Jean Clouthier told Radio-Canadathe train will be more comfortable and more reliable than buses, though it won't be faster for everyone.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury said the next phase of light rail will go further east, west and south into the suburbs, and that trip times shouldimprove.

"We have to do Phase 1 to then get to Phase 2, which is really where you're going to see those improvements," he said.

"You're going to jump on your local bus, you're going to get in a sweet spot outside your residential area where you're going to commute right into downtown."

One potential wrinkle: the Progressive Conservative government said this week it's still reviewing the $1 billionPhase 2 funding request the previous Liberal government committed to in writing.

The Phase 2project is supposed to startconstruction this summer and be finished by 2023.