A report released Monday shows the cost of running a public transit vehicle in Ottawa is nearly $200 per hour, which is $70 more than the Ontario average.

The Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative compared Ottawa with other Ontario cities on everything from bylaw complaints to firefighter response times, and Ottawa stands out in several categories.

The initiative is overseen by city managers.

The report also showed Ottawa's public transit vehicles are better used and carry more people per trip.

Ottawa's ambulances spend more time at hospitals than in other cities, it also shows. In Ottawa, paramedics spend about a quarter of their time transfering patients and doing paperwork.

Ottawa also spends more on planning than other cities and more new residential units have been built here recently than elsewhere in the province.

The number of people who register for recreational programs in Ottawa is much higher, but it costs more per capita to run recreation centres and programs here.

The report also gives an idea of how some services and spending are changing in Ottawa's local government.

From 2009 to 2011, the average length of time families spent in emergency shelters went up from 31 days to 51.