LRT change impacts students catching buses to the college

Algonquin College students are feeling the impact of reduced Confederation Line service as they try to catch buses to the campus.

“When I miss the train, then the 88 (bus route from Hurdman to Terry Fox) would already be gone, so I have to wait for the next one,” said Jessica Adriana Bettoni, a Level 2 biotechnology student. “I have to wait 15 or 30 minutes, depending, for the next bus to show up.”

Delays force students to leave home earlier to make it to class on time.

The LRT service used to run every five minutes during off-peak hours but now it will run every 10 minutes.

The reduced service, introduced to help OC Transpo address a $25-million deficit, was maintained after a 13-12 vote on Sept. 11, with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe casting the tie-breaking vote. The vote followed a debate on increasing off-peak service to seven minutes.

While some students said they hadn’t noticed the specific change in timing. Others said they still face longer, more crowded commutes.

Darrien Trombley, a Level 1 auto body and collision damage repair student said: “It’s crazy. It takes a lot longer to get in every day.”

“I wasn’t aware of the wait times increase,” said Naureen Kaur, a Level 5 advertising and marketing communications management student. She said she takes the train to work, but because she hasn’t been to work in past two weeks she didn’t know about the changes.

The longer wait times will affect Kaur’s commute, and she might have to leave home earlier and expect trains to be crowded.

What concerns her more is the ongoing construction that has been happening for years, especially beyond Blair towards Orléans, and at Algonquin.

“I don’t know when it’s going to get completed,” said Kaur.

She finds the situation tough.

“I have to change one train and two buses. basically, which is too much.”