Ottawa South EMC

Page 1

your community newspaper

total emc distribution 474,000

Ottawa South

Dalton McGuinty MPP Ottawa South

See our SpecialS on the back page

1795 Kilborn Ave. 1795 Kilborn Ave. Ottawa, K1H6N1 6N1 Ottawa, ON ON K1H

thursDay, JANUARY 10, 2013

www.YourOttawaRegion.com

613-736-9573 613-736-9573

R0011305025

Contact me with your provincial concerns

Inside NEWS

An early-morning blaze at a building near Smyth Road briefly shuts down Alta Vista Drive. – Page 3

CITY HALL NEWS

COMMUNITY NEWS

Eddie Rwema/Metroland

Winter pick-up The ice has taken shape and outdoor skating has begun at the Alta Vista Park. Neighbourhood kids like Justin Jarmo, left, and Eric Toms enjoy skating as they discover the joys of winter. The rink is maintained by local residents for the neighbourhood to enjoy.

More Presto cards available for riders Jan. 18 OC Transpo seeks ‘frequent riders’ for 10,000 smart-card rollout

Former Bay Ward councillor Alex Cullen will seek the provincial NDP nomination for Ottawa Centre. – Page 15

Laura Mueller

laura.mueller@metroland.com

EMC news - OC Transpo is hoping to tap frequent riders to help get the bugs out of its smart-card payment system. The new Presto cards will be available for free at OC

Transpo sales centres between Jan. 18 and Feb. 1. There are already 2,000 people using the cards as part of a “friends and family” test program and OC Transpo is hoping up to 10,000 more people join them when the new cards begin to work on Feb. 1. The cards are being released to a larger number of transit users to test the beleaguered system when it’s under heavier use. The Presto system is used by some transit agencies in southern Ontario, but Ottawa was set to be the first city to

use a new generation of the technology last summer. A full, 200,000-card rollout was scheduled for June, but the city and provincial agency responsible for the system, Metrolinx, pulled the plug at the last minute due to technical issues. Glitches, such as red screens indicating rejected payments, continued to plague the system through the summer, forcing Metrolinx and the city to extend the “friends and family” test period through the winter. Presto is supposed to usher

in a new era of how users pay to ride the bus. For one thing, the passes are transferable, meaning you, a spouse, a child, a friend, a roommate or anyone, really, could share a card – as long as you don’t ride at the same time. The cards can be topped up online or at a service centre. Manager of business and operational services, David Pepper, said OC Transpo is hoping at least half of the new Presto-card holders use the cards regularly. That lowball number is

Your City. Your Community. Your Insurance Broker. Tanner Insurance. Let us look after your insurance needs so you can focus on the things that matter to you. Call us today at 613-232-5704 and start saving. www.tannerinsurance.com

Proud partners with

enough to give OC Transpo the kind of critical mass it needs to put the system to the test. In addition, now that the Toronto Transit Commission has signed on to implement Presto for the TTC by 2016, all eyes will be watching Ottawa to see how it fares. Last month, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 boss Craig Watson said that all 1,600 OC Transpo operators were set to be retrained on how to use the Presto system in January in advance of the deluge of new users expected in February. R0011723363

The Glebe Neighbourhood Activities Group gets ready to host its annual food tasting affair. – Page 5


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.