Get ready to change the number you dial for information about bus service at your stop.
A new system introduced by OC Transpo this fall requires you to call 560-1000, followed by a four-digit code for your bus stop. And no, it's not the same four digits you used to dial with the old 560 system.
If you have access to the Internet, you can look up your new bus stop code at www.octranspo.com. All the intersections with a bus stop have their own number, although if there are stops for different buses or in different directions at the intersection, the website doesn't tell you which has which number.
Getting to Carleton University just got a bit more difficult for students living in Carlington: you'll have to ride the 86 or 176 as far as Meadowlands to transfer to the 117, which goes into the campus. The 117 only operates Monday to Friday; your weekend options are the 7 and 4, which will involve two transfers for any trip from Carlington.
Service to Central Park begins this fall, with rush-hour Route 55 downtown detouring off Merivale Road around Central Park Drive.
Starting December 24, there will be changes to 176 which will be welcome to JDS Uniphase employees but not to workers headed to the Auriga/Antares area or Hunt Club. The 176 will still head south along Merivale but will not go through the south Merivale industrial park or across the Hunt Club Bridge to South Keys. Instead, it will continue south towards Barrhaven and JDS Uniphase.
Those who take 176 towards the Transitway have probably already noticed that service was extended to downtown on some buses. There will be service every 15 minutes or less during the morning and afternoon rush hours, and all buses will go at least as far as Lebreton.
If you want to know more about planning your route, your new bus stop number, schedules or bus passes, call OC Transpo at 741-4390.