An effort to have the City of Ottawa take a closer look at private bus service in rural areas has failed on a tie vote at council. Glen Gower noted that council already passed a motion last year asking staff to examine "opportunities to further leverage" private and not-for-profit transportation service providers. "I think it takes us down a funnel that we don’t have to go down yet in our examination of rural transit," Gower said. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 blasted any move toward privatized transit service at last week’s committee meeting, and present Noah Vineberg came to council for the final vote. It would have staff review funding models in rural areas that dictate the levels of taxes residents pay for transit service.

Source: CBC News April 09, 2026 16:42 UTC