Published on
November 15, 2025
The Ottawa public transport agency OC Transpo has, as part of an effort to bolster the city’s public transport network, ordered fifty new Xcelsior 60-foot clean-diesel articulated buses from new Flyer for an estimated 75 million CAD. This new addition will serve both Ottawa residents and tourists to the city. Under an existing Metrolinx contract, New Flyer Industries Canada, part of NFI Group Inc., will provide the buses.
The new buses will help to replace older buses, further modernising the assets of the Ottawa transport system and ensuring that the public transport system used by tourists in the Ottawa region is efficient and low-cost. As with the other new buses, these will use clean-diesel technology, aligned with Ottawa’s goals of promoting sustainable and effective urban mobility by offering the public transport system with lower emission and fuel-efficient buses.
Growing Ottawa’s Public Transport for Tourists
The more that Ottawa develops as a tourist destination, the more the public transport system is used, and the more efficient and reliable it needs to be. The tourists come to Ottawa for the cultural and historical attractions, as well as the natural scenery. Sites of interest to tourists include Parliament Hill, the National Gallery of Canada and the UNESCO heritage site, Rideau Canal.
Clean-Diesel articulated buses will make transport to several key destinations and tourist attractions easier to access and navigate across the city. These buses will be operating along multiple routes to tourist destinations, including the ByWard Market, Museum of History and Gatineau Park. For tourists, the public transport system is critical to access and navigate the major attractions of the city of Ottawa, especially with its vast geography and the seasonally dependent nature of tourism, with peak months in the summer and winter.
With the extra buses, OC Transpo can service the growing number of city visitors and ensure they travel seamlessly and sustainably between the city’s historical, cultural and natural sites.
Assisting Local and Regional Tourism
Aside from the attractions, Ottawa’s public transportation system is also a component of supporting local tourism in the city. Ottawa’s residents and regional commuters depend on the OC Transpo network to access their places of employment, study, and other leisure activities. The improved and expanded bus services will not only make it more accessible for residents from other regions to visit Ottawa’s downtown for cultural and entertainment activities, but also enhance access for commuters from Gatineau and Kanata.
For tourists coming from nearby cities, the new Xcelsior buses will improve the inter-modal visitor experience for train, light rail and bus transitions.
Eco-Friendly Transport for Sustainable Tourism
With the increasing focus on sustainable tourism across the globe, Ottawa’s investment in clean-diesel buses will facilitate the promotion of green tourism. These buses will emit less greenhouse gases and other pollutants, which will assist the city in achieving lower overall emissions and improved air quality.
Likewise, the technology to mitigate pollution from diesel engines contributes to a greater long-term fuel consumption reduction, a lower cost to the user, and is a reasonable solution for urban movement. From the point of view of the eco-conscious airport traveler, the low emission bus fleet is an integral part of their overall sustainable, low environmental impact travel.
As the City of Ottawa adds sustainable clean transportation infrastructure, the low emission clean diesel fuel buses will help Ottawa move towards a greener to cleaner transit. Empowering tourists and visitors with an eco-conscious means of moving freely through the capital is a well-designed service.
Augmenting the Tourist Infrastructure and Improving the Inclusiveness
Bus additions to public transit are necessary public service improvements to enhance Ottawa’s tourism infrastructure. It is also a key public service for efficiently managing an increased number of users, especially for main events like Canada Day, the winter holiday celebrations, and for international events and conventions in the capital.
In Ottawa, public transit is a key service for managing large user numbers efficiently. Investing in clean, modern, and efficient public transit is a public service investment aligned with the direction of the City of Ottawa, to become a premier travel destination in America. For International and inter-provincial tourists, an enlarged bus fleet will be a key service to flexible and inclusive movement.
The additional buses on the road will allow tourists to experience enhanced service coverage including fully scheduled and reliable frequencies so tourists can enjoy the many sites and attractions around the busy downtown core without the worry of street navigation and city parking challenges. Additionally, tourism service providers will also be able to streamline the transportation of tourists in large volume groups, in support of daily operational and large-scale event transportation needs.
Conclusion
The arrival of 50 additional clean-diesel buses to the OC Transpo will help advance the sustainable transit goals and the tourism development initiatives underway in the city of Ottawa. With the added mobility of clean transportation in the city, Ottawa will be able to maintain and grow the tourism activity around Eco-tourism. The expanded transit network will offer residents of Ottawa, tourists and visitors from the surrounding regions an expanded network of buses to travel throughout the city, without the worry of travel emissions.
The city continues to grow as a destination that is rich in culture, history, and nature. The dedication to sustainability and the Eco-friendly vision of the public transportation network confirms the city’ flexibility to the changing travel and tourism needs of varied travellers as the city continues to offer more and more experiences. The ongoing improvements to public transportation will always ensure that visitors to Ottawa will enjoy the many experiences the city has to offer.
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