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“I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with it,” said Jamie on Wednesday. “I can see the train drive by my office every once in a while and I’m so glad I’m not part of it.”

We have cabs and Uber and Lyft in Ottawa. We have close to 600,000 registered personal vehicles. We have, maybe, 900 buses and, maybe, 15 trains. If things become desperate, which side do you think wins in the battle between private vehicles and public transit? (Parking, you say? Watch the market get creative.)

For years, the Chapmans took OC to work. The number 86, which stopped outside their door, took Melanie straight to work downtown, near Metcalfe and Slater streets. Jamie, 43, needed a quick transfer near what is today Pimisi Station, connecting with the 105 to Place du Portage in downtown Gatineau.

He estimates his travel at about 25 minutes, even with the inter-provincial bus transfer.

When LRT was launched, the old links were gone. He tried taking the bus to Tunney’s, then the train to Pimisi, then a second bus to Gatineau. Or he just walked to Tunney’s and took up the last two legs of the trip.

The commute was now about 40 minutes and not barrels of fun. The sidewalks and platforms at Tunney’s were crowded and chaotic. “There’s just too many people,” said Jamie, a project officer.

Photo by Julie Oliver / Postmedia

The buses were on new schedules and, initially, not reliable. The trains were sometimes late. It only took a couple of weeks, he says, for them to “hate” the new commute.

Then came an offer for the underground parking spot at the giant Hull complex. He grabbed it, meaning he can — literally — drive to work wearing shorts in January because he never has to step outside, underground to underground.