Ottawa's relationship with its bus terminal has been a sore spot for years, and a recent letter to the editor published in the Ottawa Citizen is reigniting the conversation. The letter responds to columnist Bruce Deachman's piece on how bus travel in the capital has changed, painting a picture that will feel familiar to anyone who's tried to catch an intercity coach lately: a father and son standing at a bare bus stop pole outside the University of Ottawa's Desmarais building, waiting for their ride to Montreal.
From a Real Terminal to a Stop on a Pole
For longtime Ottawa residents, the image is a jarring one. There was a time when catching a bus out of town meant heading to an actual terminal — indoor seating, ticket counters, washrooms, a place to get out of the cold while you waited. Today, as the letter points out, travellers are increasingly left standing at a simple pole-mounted stop near uOttawa's campus, with none of the amenities that used to come standard with intercity bus travel.
The letter writer notes the irony baked into the location itself. The Desmarais building is named after Paul Desmarais, a uOttawa alumnus and one of Canada's most influential business figures. Waiting outside a building honouring a titan of Canadian industry, with no shelter beyond a signpost, is the kind of contrast that tends to stick with people — and it's clearly stuck with whoever penned this letter.
Why This Keeps Coming Up in Ottawa
Ottawa has been without a proper, centralized bus terminal for years, ever since the old Catherine Street station and later stopgap arrangements fell by the wayside. Since then, intercity bus service in the city has been something of a patchwork — different operators using different pickup points, often with minimal infrastructure, leaving travellers exposed to the elements in a city that sees brutal winters and sweltering summers alike.
For a capital city that positions itself as a major hub connecting Ontario and Quebec — with Montreal just a couple hours down the highway — the lack of a dedicated, full-service terminal is a recurring embarrassment for many residents. It's not just about comfort; it's about what kind of experience Ottawa offers to the thousands of people who rely on buses to get in and out of the city, whether they're students heading home for the weekend or visitors arriving for a conference downtown.
An Ottawa Problem With No Easy Fix
This isn't the first time Ottawans have raised the alarm about intercity bus infrastructure, and it likely won't be the last. As the letter to the Citizen makes clear, the phrase "no fuss, take the bus" doesn't really hold up anymore when the reality is standing on a sidewalk near Nicholas Street with your luggage, hoping your coach shows up on time.
Whether a new terminal ever materializes remains an open question, but the letter adds to a growing chorus of Ottawa residents calling on the city — and whichever operators serve it — to treat intercity bus travellers with a bit more dignity than a pole and a timetable.
Source: Ottawa Citizen, Letters to the Editor
