Staff Report #1
September 29, 2025
To All Commissioners
Re: Fall Service Update – Conventional Transit
Recommendation
The report be RECEIVED for information.
Background
2025 Service Plan Implementation
The month of September is the most challenging month for transit service providers as it is the time of year when service improvements are implemented in an effort to address what has been determined through the planning process as the most pressing issues on the service. Service is also adjusted back to fall levels given the return of post-secondary students. Given service improvement plans are approved nine to twelve months in advance of implementation, there is a strong possibility that new issues not contemplated in the approved plan will arise. This is also the time of year when vacations end and the shift back to school and regular routines results in increased traffic and congestion. Given buses operate on the same corridors as all other vehicular traffic, this additional congestion can result in schedule adherence issues. It is typical to take three to four weeks for travel patterns to become set for both transit riders and those driving personal vehicles. The nature and extent of road construction projects can also significantly impact travel patterns and congestion levels that were not contemplated at the time the service plan was approved.
Compounding the typical September issues faced by transit service providers, London Transit has been dealing with ongoing challenges in the labour market relating to 310T Technicians, which has resulted in a fluctuating workforce that has been below required complement for the past several years. Currently, vacancies in this employee group represent 12.5% of the workforce. The delivery of the 2024 and 2025 replacement buses (34 buses in total) in the summer of 2025 has placed increased pressure on a depleted workforce as new buses require approximately 107 hours of work to be fitted with LTC equipment prior to being placed on the road. The equipment (fare boxes, smart card readers, etc.) must first be removed from the bus scheduled to be retired prior to being placed on the new bus, essentially reducing the number of operational buses for the period of transition. While the Fleet and Facilities department did their best to complete the transitions over the summer months, it was not possible with the depleted resource pool. Recruitment for the vacant positions continues to be a priority for the Human Resources department.
Effective August 31, 2025 the 2025 service plan changes were implemented which included routing modifications on Route 10, the introduction of the new Route 127 and frequency improvements on Routes 28 and 90. As the result of the aforementioned issues relating to bus availability, some September schedules were adjusted effective August 31, 2025 to better align with bus availability projections for this current sign-up period, which runs until November 22, 2025. The updated schedules were posted on the corporate website and social media posts directed riders to check schedules for affected routes. In addition, all real-time information was updated to reflect the new schedules.
When identifying routes/runs to cancel as a result of strained resources, the top priority was to ensure that all areas of the city currently served by transit continued to have transit options. Secondary factors included frequency of routes, ridership levels, and removing duplicate service coverage, all with the goal of mitigating, to the greatest extent possible, negative impacts on riders. Through this analysis it was determined that Routes 92 and 95 would be suspended until such a time as resource issues improve. Both routes are express routes that have other service coverage options (Routes 16 and 10 respectively) and also have the lowest express route ridership. The remaining service reductions were decreases in frequency on Routes 1, 4, 7, 9, 13, 27, 33, 94 and 106.
As expressed earlier in this report, bus availability is anticipated to continuously improve over the coming weeks as the new buses are prepped and placed into service. During this period, all additional available buses are being assigned to routes experiencing the highest levels of crowding. Ridership is reviewed on a daily basis and updates are made to the priority list weekly to ensure that buses are being utilized to address the areas with the most pressing concerns.
An integral part of the implementation of service changes is the monitoring of the impacted routes post implementation. The Planning department monitors ridership daily in an effort to determine where the most significant crowding and schedule adherence issues are being experienced. As referenced earlier in this report, each day any available buses in excess of the scheduled service requirements are assigned to the highest priority routes. Customer contacts and feedback from Operators are also closely monitored during the initial weeks post service change implementation in an effort to identify any areas where schedules can be adjusted for the next sign-up period to address schedule adherence or connectivity concerns noting these changes are limited to those that do not require additional service hours but rather can be accommodated through an overall schedule adjustment.
Feedback to date on the 2025 changes has been mixed, with the greatest number of customer contacts related to the routing modifications on Route 10. Concerns have been raised with regards to the loss of direct service from the Westmount area to Western University with Route 10 now travelling straight up Wonderland Road. It is important to recognize that transit service between these areas has not been eliminated, however in some cases, riders are now required to transfer depending on where they are coming from. With the high frequency on Route 127 as well as Routes 27 and 31 operating along Sarnia Road there is a bus for transfers approximately every 5 minutes. Previously with Route 10 travel between Westmount Mall and Western University on a single bus took between 25 and 35 minutes depending on the time of day. With the routing modifications and the introduction of the new Route 127, travel between Westmount Mall and Western University now takes between 27 and 37 minutes including the transfer time. The addition of Route 127 has also added additional capacity along Sarnia Road as the route operates more frequently than Route 10. Previously passengers would be passed along Sarnia Road due to crowding on the buses. With the increased frequency there is more capacity along this busy corridor. It is not uncommon to receive negative feedback with respect to changes made to routes as the change will inevitably have positive impacts on some riders and negative impacts on others, it is the nature of public transit services that are designed in a manner to be effective and efficient while meeting the needs of the community at large.
Customer and Operator feedback gathered both pre and post implementation is a key piece of input utilized by the Planning department when considering annual service changes. Through both the Five Year Service Plan as well as the 2025 Service Plan public engagement processes, limited feedback was received with regard to concerns of the loss of the direct connection with the Route 10 changes. The new Route 127 was also introduced at the same time to not only replace the capacity along Sarnia Road lost by the change in Route 10 but also increase the capacity by having Route 127 operate more frequently than Route 10 previously did.
As with all service plan changes, the impacts of the changes have to be assessed over a twelve-to-eighteen-month period to determine if the changes were successful in managing the service concerns they were meant to address or if other changes are required. All changes implemented as part of the 2025 service plan will continue to be monitored over the coming months and should any additional modifications be necessary, they will be subject to review through the annual service planning process.
The following map depicts the areas of the City where crowding concerns have been the most prevalent during the period of September 8 through 19. As noted earlier in this report, it is too soon to assume that travel patterns have been established and as such, this data is continuously monitored as it will also be considered as input into the Draft 2026 Service Plan which will be tabled for Commission consideration at the October 27, 2025 meeting.
The remainder of this report provides additional detail with regard to the various issues that have impacted the implementation of the 2025 Service Plan improvements.
External Factors Impacting Fall Service
In addition to resource shortages, service has also been significantly impacted by the numerous construction projects across the city, including major Rapid Transit construction along Wellington Road, Highbury and Oxford. As of September 1, a total of 21 conventional transit routes were impacted by construction projects resulting in detours and/or delays associated with lane restrictions. While this alone has the potential to result in significant service implications, it was unfortunately not the only new challenge faced this September.
On September 11, Fanshawe College Support Staff went on strike. As with any labour action affecting transit routes on private property, all buses serving Fanshawe College were put on detour. Due to the unpredictability of the service impacts related to potential delays due to picket lines, buses are detoured in an effort to maintain schedule adherence. Routes 25, 27 and 36 have been detoured via Fleming and Farnborough Drive. Routes 4, 20, 91 and 104 have been detoured via First, Dundas and Highbury and Route 17 has been detoured via Third, Cheapside and Highbury, noting the intersection of Oxford and Second Street is closed between September 22 and October 3. While the detours have had impacts to schedule adherence, the impacts are predictable and can be better planned for than would be the case if the buses were to maintain service on campus.
Administration will continue to monitor service on a daily basis, and assign available buses to the areas experiencing the most difficulty maintaining schedule or accommodating ridership demand.
Recommended by:
Katie Burns, Director of Planning
David Butler, Manager of Operations Administration
Craig Morneau, Director of Fleet & Facilities
Joanne Galloway, Director of Human Resources
Concurred in by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager