I'll buy buses myself: Ottawa city councillor pledges to find relief from Missouri

CBC
·2 min read
These articulated buses are being put up for sale by the municipality of St. Louis, Mo., and Ottawa city Coun. Catherine McKenney has volunteered to buy them to help out frustrated OC Transpo riders. (Metro St. Louis - image credit)
These articulated buses are being put up for sale by the municipality of St. Louis, Mo., and Ottawa city Coun. Catherine McKenney has volunteered to buy them to help out frustrated OC Transpo riders. (Metro St. Louis - image credit)

A city councillor vows to help Ottawa's struggling transit network by opening their wallet and personally purchasing a handful of used buses from the southern U.S.

Coun. Catherine McKenney told the city's transit commission Wednesday they'd found an ad for out-of-service articulated buses — eight of which were still operable — that had been put up for sale by the city of St. Louis, Mo.

"The sale won't last long. I think it's up by Oct. 25. And I am dead serious: I will pay [for them]," McKenney said.

"Given the situation we are in, we need to improve our service immediately. And we need these buses for the next time the LRT is down. So I've got my credit card ready to go."

Ottawa's light rail network has been out of service for more than a month, ever since a train derailed Sept. 19 near Tremblay station.

Since then, many transit riders have expressed anger and frustration at the state of the bus system.

According to the Metro St. Louis ad, the municipality is putting 13 scrap buses up for auction as one lot. As of Wednesday afternoon, they were going for a total of $1,525 US, or about $1,878 Cdn.

McKenney initially told transit commission they were on sale for $100, but soon after confirmed with CBC News the ad's price was correct.

Francis Ferland/CBC
Francis Ferland/CBC

St. Louis buses are indeed an option

"They can go through our communities to ensure that the people who are clerks in grocery stores, front-line workers, people who going to work in hospitals, people who have no other way of getting around the city will at least have eight articulated buses," McKenney told the commission.

Transit commission chair Coun. Allan Hubley said the idea was certainly feasible, although he also tempered expectations.

"There's five days left in the auction, so let's not just count on those buses just yet," said Hubley. "But it's a great option [and] I think all of the commission's in agreement, we've got to look at having a few more buses in the system."

Troy Charter, OC Transpo's director of transit operations, said his staff could certainly look into the idea and see what it would take to get the buses road-worthy.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Turkey's Erdogan meets with Iraqi counterpart Rashid on first state visit in a decade

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was greeted by Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid in Baghdad on Monday for his first official visit in more than a decade, as his country seeks greater cooperation from Iraq in its fight against a Kurdish militant group that has a foothold in northern Iraq.

  • Turkey's Erdogan meets Iraqi PM Al Sudani on first state visit in a decade

    Turkey's Erdogan meets Iraqi PM Al Sudani on first state visit in a decade

  • High Park's cherry blossoms are in peak bloom

    High Park's famed cherry trees are expected to reach "peak bloom" on Monday, and the city has restricted vehicle access to the park for the duration of the annual spring sensation.Peak bloom, when roughly 70 per cent of the blossoms have opened, usually only lasts between four and 10 days, depending on the weather. Cool, calm conditions can extend the peak bloom period, while warmer, unsettled weather can shorten it, according to the High Park Nature Centre.Tens of thousands of onlookers head to

  • Staving off despair at Windsor's Earth Day celebration

    Global environmental reports have been grim, with climate change being described as an existential threat to humanity — but the mood was far from gloomy at Windsor's annual Earth Day celebrations.Hundreds of citizens gathered in Malden Park on Sunday to browse exhibitions, take part in activities, and mark the 54th anniversary of the international day meant to show support for environmental protection."Every day is Earth Day, but I think the meaning of this date, specifically, is that we're taki

  • Drone, rocket attacks targeted US forces in Iraq, US officials say

    BAGHDAD (Reuters) -U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria faced two separate rocket and explosive drone attacks in less than 24 hours, Iraqi security sources and U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, in the first such incidents reported after a near three-month pause. That followed five rockets fired from northern Iraq toward U.S. forces at a base in Rumalyn in remote northeastern Syria on Sunday, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the rocket attack on Sunday targeted U.S. troops, in what appeared to be the first attack against U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since Feb. 4.

  • 4 survivors of capsizing believed to be in good condition

    Four people who survived the capsizing of a 23-foot fishing vessel on Sunday were in good condition when they were rescued from the rugged shoreline of Newfoundland's west coast, says the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.According to a DFO statement late Sunday, all four survivors were picked up by a military helicopter near Molly Ann Cove, south of Lark Harbour. Two others were found dead in the water by members of the Canadian Coast Guard ship Cape Edensaw."Our thoughts are with all involved

  • Report: 17 million Canadians consider themselves fans of women's sports

    TORONTO — A new report shows that two in three Canadians between the ages of 13 and 65 consider themselves to be fans of women's sports. The report titled "It's Time: Unlocking the Power of Pro Women's Sport Fans" was commissioned by Canadian Women & Sport with its research partner IMI Consulting. This study was conducted in October 2023 with a representative sample of over 2,000 Canadians aged 13—65. It also found that two in five Canadians aged consider themselves "avid fans" and regularly wat

  • Racism, discrimination may lead to First Nations patients leaving emergency rooms: Alberta study

    Systemic racism and inequity in health care may be contributing to why First Nations patients in Alberta disproportionately leave emergency departments without being seen, or against medical advice, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.The peer-reviewed paper builds on a previous one that found nearly seven per cent of First Nations patients' visits to emergency departments ended in them leaving without care, compared to nearly four per cent of visits by

  • Trump says it's a "very, very sad day in America" as historic hush money trial starts

    For the first time in history, prosecutors will present a criminal case against a former American president to a jury as they accuse Donald Trump of a hush money scheme aimed at preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public.

  • Barb Adams named Nova Scotia's new justice minister

    Days after Nova Scotia's justice minister and attorney general resigned for comments that questioned the pervasiveness of domestic violence in the province, another cabinet minister has been tasked with taking on the roles.Premier Tim Houston announced Monday that Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Barb Adams is adding the roles of justice minister and attorney general to her duties."Barbara has been doing an excellent job as minister of Seniors and Long-Term Care, bringing passion, empathy and

  • Toronto police officer charged with assault, suspended

    A Toronto police officer has been charged after an alleged assault on Saturday.The Toronto Police Service said in a news release that it started an investigation on Saturday after a man went to an address, where he allegedly assaulted two women.A 51-year-old constable with 25 years of service was arrested the same day and is charged with two counts of assault and being unlawfully in a dwelling house.The officer has been suspended with pay, Toronto police say. He's due to appear in court on May 2

  • Newsroom Ready: Expert confident killer whale calf will survive in open ocean after rescue

    A marine scientist who has been in Zeballos, B.C. for weeks helping work on the rescue plan for a female killer whale calf trapped in a remote tidal lagoon says he's confident the young female will survive in the open ocean and likely reunite with family members. Marine scientist Jared Towers says if the rescue team can successfully capture and transfer the orca calf to the nearby open ocean, the chances of it finding its family are good. (April 21, 2024)

  • West Bank engulfed by wave of settler violence

    Palestinians in the occupied West Bank say nowhere is safe after a wave of Israeli settler violence that’s been increasing since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.

  • Relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza lay out empty seats at Passover tables in their absence

    Israelis in Tel Aviv were preparing to mark Passover, a major Jewish holiday focused on freedom, and were finding it hard to celebrate when some Israelis are still being held hostage in Gaza. This year many Jewish families are torn about how — or even if — to celebrate the holiday. Many Seder (dinner) tables in Israel and elsewhere are expected to have empty seats, representing those killed or taken hostage on Oct. 7, as well as soldiers unable to return home for Passover. (AP video: Ami Bentov)

  • Spring bursts into Toronto with cherry blossoms

    STORY: Footage shows visitors taking photographs and walking in High Park, home to thousands of cherry blossom trees.Visitor Trang Pham said she felt “great” because it was the first time her baby had seen cherry blossoms, and that she enjoyed immersing herself in nature surrounded by them.Like their famous counterparts in Washington, D.C., the cherry blossom trees were a gift from Japan to the city of Toronto. In 1959, the Japanese government shipped 2,000 trees to Toronto.

  • Student bullying more of a problem on P.E.I., survey finds

    An extensive survey on youth health on P.E.I. has found that bullying is a particular problem for students in Grades 7 to 12 — and it's worse here than elsewhere in the country.The annual COMPASS survey found 31 per cent of students had been bullied in the previous 30 days, compared to a national average of 19 per cent.P.E.I. is one of five provinces that participates in the COMPASS survey, developed and delivered by the University of Waterloo. This year the survey included 35 schools, and 79 pe

  • It's a field that needs more workers — and these Fredericton whiz kids have a head start

    A cyber attack on the City of Saint John in November 2020 may have been just a headline for many, but for a group of students at Nashwaaksis Middle School, defending such an attack is the stuff career ambitions are made of.As organizations increasingly rely on technology, the ransomware attack that took down the city's website and affected its emergency dispatch system forced the city to rebuild its network and launch a new website.The attack cost Saint John millions and was eventually traced ba

  • Israeli military intelligence chief becomes first to resign over October 7 Hamas attack, AP explains

    The head of Israel’s military intelligence directorate has resigned over Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the head of Israel’s military intelligence, becomes the first senior Israeli figure to step down over the failures surrounding Hamas’ attack. It could set the stage for more resignations. Haliva said in October that he shouldered the blame for not preventing the attack, which broke through Israel’s vaunted defenses.

  • Two people dead, four others make it to shore after vessel capsizes in Newfoundland

    PORT AU PORT, N.L. — The Department of Fisheries and Oceans says two people were found dead and four others survived after a boat capsized off the west coast of Newfoundland. The department says the Canadian Coast Guard received a report of people in the water near the fishing town of Lark Harbour at around 11 a.m. Sunday after a seven-metre fishing vessel called Miss Jenny capsized with six people aboard. The coast guard issued a mayday relay to vessels in the area and its team, equipped with a

  • Despite Truth Social’s volatility, Donald Trump is poised to pocket another $1 billion this week

    Windfall scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.