Transportation Master Plan Update

New mobility is any technology or business model that has the potential to complement and/or disrupt the way we currently move around the city. These new mobility options include automation, connectivity, electrification, and sharing. While these new technologies offer a number of potential benefits (e.g., greater number of travel choices, more equity, improved safety, reduced environmental impact), they also include some potential risks that are worth considering.

View this video, look at our digital display boards, and read our discussion paper to find out more, and fill out the online questionnaire before October 23 to share your thoughts!

The Transportation Master Plan is very closely connected with the City of Ottawa’s New Official Plan, and the Climate Change Master Plan. Together, all of these plans will form the basis for how our city moves forward in a sustainable way.

We invite you to review these plans, and to view this video, look at our digital display boards, and review our Vision and Guiding Principles to learn more about the connections between the plans.

The approved scope of work for the TMP Update (which includes updates to the Active Transportation Plan, formerly the Ottawa Pedestrian Plan and Ottawa Cycling Plan) identifies completion of the TMP Update in April 2022. As detailed in the August 18th memo to the Mayor and Council, the completion date for the TMP Update and new Active Transportation Plan has been revised to be the fall of 2023. The memo can be found in the TMP Document Library on this website.

The second phase of consultation on the TMP Update started in February 2020 and was planned to be completed in May. This phase will be expanded to include online consultations and extended into the fall to ensure sufficient time for proper consultation with the public.

Watch this project website and subscribe to the newsletter for further updates and details on how to participate in the consultations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the City’s transportation system. It has affected how, when, and where people travel. Transit ridership, auto traffic, pedestrian volumes, and cycling trips have all fluctuated over the course of the pandemic, and things are still in a state of flux.

In terms of planning for the future of transportation in Ottawa we face many uncertainties, but some things are certain:

• The pandemic has changed the way many people travel in our city. Some of those changes are short-term and will revert to the way they were before the pandemic; other changes will be with us for some time, but will eventually recede; and still other changes are permanent, representing a “new normal” for transportation in Ottawa.

• We have witnessed major shifts in transportation behaviour. For instance, the uptake of working from home (in many cases, compulsory) has been well beyond even the most optimistic historical projections.

• Travel patterns and traffic volumes have not yet settled into a “new normal”. Many emergency restrictions and temporary conditions are still in place, and will be for some time.

• There will be a continued need for travel in the future, including the need for a safe, reliable public transit system to serve the travel needs of Ottawa’s growing population.

The City and other authorities across Canada and around the world are monitoring the evolving impacts of the pandemic on transportation and considering both short-term and long-term implications. The update of Ottawa’s Transportation Master Plan will need to take these into account. As travel patterns continue to fluctuate, the City is actively monitoring traffic volumes, transit ridership, and other transportation metrics to help track the impacts of the pandemic. The City will be collecting additional data in the future to use for the TMP Update.

There continues to be uncertainty about the future, so we cannot predict exactly what will happen. However, we can use “scenario planning” to develop a set of possible futures and then develop plans based on those different futures. Over time, as conditions stabilize and uncertainties about the future diminish, we can refine our scenario planning and more confidently plan for the future.

In the meantime, we are moving forward with planning for Ottawa’s transportation future based on the information available to us, and in consultation with stakeholders, other levels of government, elected officials, and residents.

A summary of the results of the first phase of public engagement on the TMP Update is now posted. You can also view the draft Vision & Guiding Principles that were developed based on the input we received. Both documents are available for viewing in the Document library section of the website.

The Transportation Master Plan, together with the accompanying Ottawa Cycling Plan and Ottawa Pedestrian Plan, is the City’s blueprint for transportation growth management policies, and the planning, funding and implementation of its walking, cycling, transit and road networks over the next several decades.The update is being undertaken now for two primary reasons:

The process to update the Transportation Master Plan, which will include many opportunities for in-person and online public input, will occur in four phases over the next two-and-a-half years, with the full Transportation Master Plan update planned for Council approval by April 2022.

This timeline is necessary to coordinate with the Official Plan review, and to conduct a new regional travel survey (also known as the Origin-Destination survey) that will be used to identify trends, develop forecasts, and set targets and priorities to serve Ottawa’s future population and employment for the next 20 years. The plan will aim to recognize and address specific groups of people who are typically at risk of exclusion in transportation planning.

In addition, emerging issues for the future of transportation in Ottawa will be considered, such as new technologies (e.g., autonomous vehicles), shared mobility (e.g., bicycles, cars and scooters), and potential regional bus and rail service.

The Ottawa Cycling Plan and Ottawa Pedestrian Plan are long-term strategy documents that accompany the Transportation Master Plan. They set the direction for policies, programs and infrastructure to encourage more people to walk and cycle more often, in support of the objectives of the Transportation Master Plan. Updates to these Plans are a separate project that is closely coordinated with the Transportation Master Plan update.

The updates will build on and strengthen the existing strategic directions in the 2013 Ottawa Cycling Plan and Ottawa Pedestrian Plan. Work will address pedestrian and cycling facility design guidance, winter maintenance priorities, and implementation policies to create no new deficiencies when streets are built or reconstructed. The update process will also include reviewing and updating the priority cycling and pedestrian infrastructure projects considering new links, connections to rapid transit stations, crossings of barriers such as highways and waterways, and improvements in rural areas.

Public engagement on the updates to the Ottawa Cycling Plan and Ottawa Pedestrian Plan will occur alongside Transportation Master Plan public engagement activities.

Transportation Master Plan Update Environmental Assessment Process

The City of Ottawa is undertaking a review and update of the Transportation Master Plan, Ottawa Pedestrian Plan, and Ottawa Cycling Plan. The update is being conducted in accordance with the requirements of Phases 1 and 2 of the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, which is an approved process under Ontario’s Environmental Assessment Act.

The TMP is the roadmap for the planning and operation of the City’s walking, cycling, transit and road networks over the next several decades. This Transportation Master Plan Update is an opportunity to create an inclusive, affordable, and well-organized transportation network that supports the new Official Plan’s goal of making Ottawa the most liveable mid-sized city in North America.

For the first round of engagement, until January 24, 2020 the City of Ottawa invites residents to fill out an online questionnaire to share what is important to them and how our transportation system can move us in the right direction for decades to come! Residents will also have an opportunity to provide input through additional engagement activities over the course of the two-and-a-half-year project.

Public engagement is a key component of the Transportation Master Plan Update with opportunities for public and stakeholder involvement at each phase of the study. Times and locations for engagement opportunities will be announced over the course of the project. Comments are welcome at all times through the project website or by contacting the City of Ottawa’s Project Manager.

Visit www.Ottawa.ca/TMPUpdate today for more information on the project and to fill out the questionnaire.

If you have any comments or questions or wish to be added to the TMP Update mailing list, please contact:

Robert Grimwood, P.Eng.
Senior Project Manager, Sustainable Transportation

Transportation Services Department, City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Ave. West, 4th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 1J1
(613) 580-2424 x28757
robert.grimwood@ottawa.ca
TMPUpdate@ottawa.ca