What you need to know about OC Transpo's 'Shuttle Express' bus service

OC Transpo is launching shuttle buses during the morning and afternoon rush hours today to support the flagging LRT, which has been reduced to single-car service.

OC Transpo is launching shuttle buses during the morning and afternoon rush hours today to support the flagging LRT, which has been reduced to single-car service.

The "Shuttle Express" buses will operate in a fashion similar to the R1 Express that ran from Blair Station to downtown for four weeks while O-Train Line 1 was offline. These shuttles will also operate in the west end between Tunney's Pasture Station and downtown.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says the bus shuttles are an "enhancement" of service.

"It demonstrates that we're listening to our customers," he said. "We heard from customers over and over again in the last four weeks that they liked the express service and so if we have an opportunity to deliver better service to customers, based on their requests, their demands, then we're always going to look at that."

End-to-end service resumed on the nearly four-year-old Confederation Line on Monday after it was shut down completely July 17. West end service started back up Aug. 8. Replacement R1 buses took customers between Tunney's Pasture and Blair stations during the 28-day shutdown, but a special "R1 Express" for east-end customers that skipped several transit stops in the mornings and afternoons proved popular.

Shuttle Express buses will run during morning and afternoon peak periods at least until the end of the year, taking customers from Tunney's Pasture or Blair stations to downtown in the morning every weekday and from downtown to Blair or Tunney's Pasture in the afternoons.

Here's what riders can expect: