Mark Sutcliffe presents the proposed transfer of Ottawa’s LRT ownership and long-term maintenance responsibility to Ontario and Metrolinx as the central structural fix for the system. His campaign argues that Ottawa taxpayers paid a much larger local share of rapid-transit capital costs than municipal taxpayers in several Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area projects. He says an upload would shift long-term financial risk to the province, provide access to Metrolinx expertise and free approximately $85 million annually for expanded routes, frequency and reliability.

Sutcliffe also points to his current-term record: implementation of the LRT public-inquiry recommendations, launch of Lines 2 and 4, investment in roughly 500 replacement or new transit vehicles, and a 2026 OC Transpo operating budget described by his office as 30 percent higher than in 2022. His campaign says the next term must permanently fix Line 1, open the eastern extension, restore confidence and continue planning future expansion toward Kanata, Stittsville and Barrhaven.

In this campaign he is additionally pledging a specific fare measure: a $95 monthly adult transit pass, presented as part of making OC Transpo more affordable for regular riders. This proposed pass would complement his claim that savings from the LRT upload can be used not only to improve routes, frequency and reliability, but also to support more affordable fare options.

On the federal four-day return-to-office requirement, the clearest documented action is coordination. As mayor, Sutcliffe met federal officials about transit capacity, roads, parking and office-space pressures. His published campaign material does not set out a separate position supporting or opposing RTO4 itself.

Jeff Leiper’s transit platform is organized around rebuilding rider confidence through published standards and visible service improvements. He proposes a Transit Service Guarantee that would establish clear targets for on-time performance and frequency, publish the results and make performance easier for the public to track. He also proposes restoring a citizen seat on the Transit Commission so riders have a direct role in oversight.

Leiper says recent service reductions should be reversed by directing funding toward core routes and the parts of the network riders use most. He supports dedicated bus lanes across the city and identifies the Baseline Bus Rapid Transit corridor as a priority. His campaign describes transit problems as the result of long-term underinvestment, staffing shortages, burnout, an aging fleet, leadership concerns and unreliable service rather than a single isolated failure.

His published campaign platform reviewed for this entry does not provide a detailed position on the proposed Metrolinx LRT upload or on whether the federal RTO4 policy should proceed. The platform instead focuses on municipal accountability, bus reliability, service restoration and targeted infrastructure.

Alex Lawson frames Ottawa’s transit crisis primarily as a management and operating problem rather than a shortage of money. His May 2026 plan says OC Transpo should fix existing operational failures before receiving a major new injection of funding. He proposes a temporary rush-hour express bus network linking key stations and downtown until Line 1 demonstrates 20 consecutive issue-free days at the reliability standard he says should have been met before launch.

Lawson proposes rebuilding route schedules using actual operating data and operator input, reviewing interlining and dispatch practices, matching vehicles to routes, phasing out double-decker purchases, and restoring direct service where forced transfers have increased travel time and reduced ridership. He would expand OC Transpo-operated on-demand service in rural Ottawa and strengthen Para Transpo performance standards and senior accountability.

His plan also includes functioning fare equipment before buses enter service, broader fare enforcement, a defence for riders unable to tap because of broken equipment, passenger-counting equipment on every bus, a transit rider code of conduct, published special-constable response targets, cameras on all vehicles, a new definition of a successfully delivered trip and an independent 90-day management review. He says the express-bus plan is a bridge rather than a replacement for LRT and explicitly rejects paving over the tracks or blaming frontline workers.

The reviewed policy does not take a distinct position on the federal RTO4 directive. Its peak-period capacity and reliability proposals would nevertheless apply to the increased commuter demand.

Transit is one of Saravanamuttoo’s most developed policy areas. His four-point recovery plan combines affordability, governance reform, service redesign and new funding sources.

He proposes a $1 citywide fare capped at $40 per month, funded without a new tax increase through transit-related savings and funding changes. He calls for “truth in transit,” including clear public explanations of LRT failures and improved real-time GPS information.

He would redesign the bus network with riders and operators at the centre, considering restored express service, a revived Route 95, higher frequency on priority corridors and more neighbourhood routes. Longer term, he proposes an arm’s-length transit real-estate agency and a coalition of Ontario municipalities seeking restored provincial operating funding.