Riders on Ottawa's light rail line are increasingly frustrated that the trains have no stability straps to hold on to, leaving the grab bars occasionally too high to reach.

The straps are meant to hang from the bars so that riders have something to grasp while the train is in motion. They can also to help people pull themselves out of their seats.

Riders have been airing their grievances about the lack of straps on Twitter.

When are the hand straps being added to the LRT trains? Should we start bringing our own bungee cords? <a href="https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JimWatsonOttawa</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/octranspo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#octranspo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottLRT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ottLRT</a> —@stanley_pippa Can we please have those hanging straps soon? If I attempt to grab onto those bars I’ll be hanging in the air like a kid on the monkey bars and no one wants that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OttawaLRT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OttawaLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/9M7Ybo87p4">pic.twitter.com/9M7Ybo87p4</a> —@ItsDnllRdrgz So close, yet so far away 😹😩 (Just a demo for how I sometimes can't hold onto anything when the train is packed and I'm in that section) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OttLRT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OttLRT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OttawaLRT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OttawaLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/27Mub11GqJ">pic.twitter.com/27Mub11GqJ</a> —@diyyinah

Even some taller riders are complaining that the bars are too high without straps.

<a href="https://twitter.com/OC_Transpo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OC_Transpo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JimWatsonOttawa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JimWatsonOttawa</a> Hey when will the grab straps be installed in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ottLRT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ottLRT</a> ? I’m 6’2” and in some locations I can barely reach. In other parts of the train there not even handles. It’s almost as if you didn’t think this through. —@DannyBechamp

Use scarves instead

Justin Kelly, the creator of Occasional Transport, a crowdsourced website that tracks LRT delays, is using his platform to urge riders to hang scarves from the grab bars as a temporary solution — one that, at the same time, would send a message to OC Transpo.

"This is a non-destructive, constructive activism [initiative] and it will continue until [the straps] show up," Kelly told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

The 3 step strap program! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OttawaLRT?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OttawaLRT</a> <a href="https://t.co/oYWD5PqHTW">pic.twitter.com/oYWD5PqHTW</a> —@OccTranspo

In an October memo to city council, OC Transpo head John Manconi said the agency did plan to install straps, but didn't indicate when they might come.

"We are currently working with the vehicle manufacturer, Alstom, and with safety engineers on the placement of the straps and other considerations that are part of rail safety requirements," the memo reads.

When asked for an update on those timelines, a City of Ottawa spokesperson shared part of a presentation dated Nov. 20 that said 500 straps had been ordered and "are due shortly."

The presentation said straps will be installed upon arrival and should equip half the fleet.