As I’ve mentioned before: weekend Ottawa transit is too expensive for what it is: $4/person each way, especially for couples, friends, or families.

While no doubt costly, if the city is serious about supporting weekend business and leisure, providing a free (or perhaps cheaper) alternative to driving in bad traffic is a no-brainer.

To celebrate the good weather and free transit I took a bus west-bound to try out the new airport link train.

The bus *flew* past the highway traffic and the train went under the race. Almost a bit thrilling.

9. Backyard fire tables

One other thought: Ottawa gets weather (precipitation, cold winter, hot summers) and most stations are open-air and without cover from above. This means entering the station->boarding a train isn’t free from poor weather.

As a disclaimer: Given where I work and live and my household composition, these are not *for* me.

It’s nearly $4/ride and with a 2-person household, driving/parking or Uber are both faster and cost-competitive.

But for those who live and work/study on the train lines this’ll be a game-changer.

I was so pleasantly surprised how much more spacious the high-floor Line 2 vehicles are than the Line 1 LRVs. They also lacked the screeching roughness of Line 1, especially noticeable at corners.

Perhaps as a logical trade-off, the Line 2 vehicles are had more tepid acceleration than Line 1.

Both lines offer level entry (awesome for accessibility), easy turnstiles (pay by credit, Presto, tickets/passes).

Line 1 is electric; Line 2 is diesel.

Line 1 opened in 2019 with small(er) LRT vehicles (trams/streetcars). It’s now the backbone of Ottawa’s public transit system.

I moved to an apartment on Line 1 just before it opened in 2019 because I could take the train to work - a poor choice given Line 1’s tumultuous launch and early months.