OTTAWA TRANSPORTATION |
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Ottawa is served by VIA Rail, by Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and
by a number of long distance bus companies.
Ottawa's main mass transit company is known as OC Transpo. The bus transit
system includes the Transitway, a network of mostly grade-separated,
extremely high-frequency, reserved bus rapid transit lanes with full
stations instead of stops. There is also a pilot-project diesel light rail
system called the O-Train. See List of Ottawa Transitway and O-Train
stations. Both OC Transpo and the Quebec-based Société de transport de
l'Outaouais (STO) operate bus services between Ottawa and Gatineau. |
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The Rideau Canal, which starts in Kingston, Ontario, winds its way through
the city. The final flight of locks on the canal are adjacent to the
Parliament Buildings. Also, during the winter season the canal is usually
open and is a form of transportation downtown for about 8 kilometres for ice
skaters (from about Dow's Lake to the Rideau Centre).
Ottawa sits at the confluence of three major rivers: the Ottawa River, the
Gatineau River and the Rideau River. The Ottawa and Gatineau rivers were
historically important in the logging and lumber industries, and the Rideau
as part of the Rideau Canal system connected the Great Lakes and Saint
Laurent River with the Ottawa river. |
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