Will some new ridership discover the hidden charms of the O-Train this summer?
The Folk Festival announced their 2011 dates yesterday, and the blg news is that they’ve moved to Mooney’s Bay, after more years than most of us can remember at Britannia. Britannia was a lovely location for a summer’s evening outdoors; there was nearly always a cooling breeze off the Ottawa River and the venue was buffered from the residential area nearby by a small forest, which helped to keep the noise bylaw complaints to a minimum.
But once 11 P.M. rolled around, Britannia wasn’t so great for getting home from via public transit, especially compared to the Transitway-served music festivals at Confederation Park or LaBreton Flats.
So we were eager to plug the OFF’s new coordinates into Google maps, and see just what would come up for transit options. The result? Mooney’s Bay is twelve minutes on foot from Confederation Station on the O-Train line; not incredibly convenient, but hardly a barrier either. There are some buses that serve the area too, but we think it’s reasonable to predict a significant uptick in the O-Train’s evening ridership in late August, and it could be even more if OCTranspo and the OFF get together and actually market the train-festival link.
2 comments
Thanks for the post, Spacing — I’m a board member, and this is exactly what we are trying to accomplish with the move. I think it’s fair to say that OC service to Britannia Park was less than optimal. One bus route (16) with 30 minute service going down to 60 minute in the evenings, and there was little attempt to help patrons connect on the OC side.
Now we have multiple bus routes, and the O Train, and far better parking options, and better biking options too.
Bonus, that 12 minute walk can be cut to 8 minutes if you cut through the Canada Post campus.