Thursday 16 April 2015

Entry #25 2015 School term is done, "Preferred" service Changes for Grand River Transit

Once again, the school term has come to a close, after this school year I am looking on doing something to better myself to prepare for the future career path, but that is for another blog post.

Since the school term is done (which I do not want it to be done due to my awesome new friends from class) I will miss them greatly.

Now to the "preferred"service changes for Grand River Transit

Since I have seen the final map, I am pleased to say, our planners did a great job in reviewing where new service needed to be implemented along with more crosstown routes. Listed below are the preferred changes:

New 204 iXpress:

  • Implement a limited-stop iXpress route through Kitchener, with service between The Boardwalk and the Ottawa Street and Lackner Boulevard intersection via the Highland Road West and Victoria Street North corridors. Service would connect residential and commercial development in east and west Kitchener to employment and future ION stations in Downtown Kitchener.

Route 1 Queen-River (Current Routes 1 Stanley Park, 17 Heritage Park and 25 Queen South):

  • Modify and combine Routes 1, 17 and 25 to provide continuous travel between Fairview Park  and The Boardwalk via Downtown Kitchener.
  • Service would be extended along Ira Needles Boulevard to The Boardwalk, and would also travel along the Fairway Road, River Road, Krug Street, and Queen Street corridors.
  • Implement a new 201 iXpress station at Fischer-Hallman Boulevard and Queen's Boulevard to allow connections between Route 1 and the 201 iXpress.
  • Improve Sunday service to every 30 minutes.

Route 2 Forest Heights (Current Routes 2 Forest Hill and 24 Highland):

  • Combine Routes 2 and 24 to travel between Downtown and the Forest Heights neighbourhood, with two-way service on Highland Road East, Stirling Avenue South, Greenbrook Drive, and Westheights Drive.
  • The combined route would travel via Queen's Boulevard and Fischer-Hallman Road to continue to serve Highland Hills Mall.
  • Implement a new 201 iXpress station at Fischer-Hallman Boulevard and Queen's Boulevard to allow connections between Route 2 and the 201 iXpress.
  • Provide Saturday service for the full route, every 30 minutes.

Route 7 Mainline:

  • Realign the 7B branch along Weber Street East between Kinzie Avenue and Fairway Road North, to provide more direct travel between Downtown Kitchener and Fairview Park.
  • Other branches would remain unchanged.
  • A detour route would remain in effect until ION construction is complete.

Route 8 Franklin branch:

  • Operate via Weber Street East between Borden Avenue and Frederick Street at all times, to provide more consistent and direct travel between Downtown Kitchener and Fairview Park.

Route 20 Victoria-Frederick (Current Routes 15 Frederick, 19 Victoria South, and 20 Victoria Hills):

  • Modify and combine Routes 15, 19 and 20 to provide continuous travel between Stanley Park Mall and The Boardwalk via Downtown, along the Victoria Street South and Frederick Street corridors.
  • Service on Victoria Street South would be extended to Ira Needles Boulevard and The Boardwalk.
  • Service on Frederick Street would be modified to travel through the Heritage Park neighbourhood to Stanley Park Mall, via Lorraine Avenue and River Road.
  • Improve Sunday service to every 30 minutes.

Route 22 Laurentian West:

  • Provide new Sunday service from approximately 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Route 23 Idlewood:

  • Extend service through the Lackner Woods neighbourhood, with service travelling between Fairview Park and Stanley Park Mall via Fairway Road North, Zeller Drive, Oldfield Drive and Ottawa Street North.
  • The northern portion of Route 23 would be replaced by the modified Route 1 and Route 20. An alternative route to travel Downtown would be the new 204 iXpress.
  • Improve Saturday service to every 30 minutes.

New Route 34 Shirley-Bingemans Centre:

  • Introduce a new route to service the employment area along the Wellington Street North, Shirley Avenue and Bingemans Centre Drive corridors, which would operate during weekday rush hour periods only.

So these are the preferred changes for September 2015. 


I hope everyone enjoys the read! 

Sunday 5 April 2015

Entry 24: Final Weeks of School

Hello folks! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter weekend!
Since my last blog post regarding my future as becoming a Grand River Transit bus operator, I have had great support from classmates (awesome friends), friends and family. When I announced I am focusing on getting my licenses then going to go get trained to go drive for Grand River Transit (GRT) I have been asked regarding a timeline for getting the license. I can say I have a timeline finalized and I will be posting it on this blog entry and the links for the bus routes that I would defiantly sign, except some will not be running until September 2015 so I will include the map of which routes that I would sign.
So for the timeline here is what I have been thinking about
1.) April-May - Get the drivers book and study for that then in May go do the written section of the test to obtain the G1
2.) After writing the written test and obtaining the G1 I will be looking at Driver's Ed so it can knock off 4 months instead of waiting 1 year
2.) After drivers ed I go do the driving portion of the test so I can obtain the full G license.
3.) Practise driving for 2 years then go apply to GRT (Grand River Transit) to become a bus driver.
That is what the timeline looks like, I think this is achievable and it has the final career decision I have made. I know a lot of my bus driver friends at GRT have been asking when am I coming to GRT to go drive for it so, the answer I have is soon. Plus I can do more than just drive a bus at GRT I can also run for scheduling and planning committee so that I can be the link between the GRT drivers and the planners at the Region of Waterloo and hopefully give the planners some ideas on future bus routes and better places for bus stops.
Also, there are only two weeks left of school for me and my classmates! Personally, I cannot wait to be finished school. I do enjoy college but the time has come for me to go out and actually work.
Now for the routes I would sign and operate at GRT. These routes I will include the link for the timetable so that it can make more sense where I would start and finish.

GRT Kitchener-Waterloo Routes
201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT201fall.pdf
202 University iXpress http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT202fall.pdf
204 Victoria-Highland iXpress (September 2015)
5 Erb http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/Rt05S.pdf
9 Lakeshore http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/Rt09winter.pdf
10 Conestoga College http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/Rt10Winter.pdf
12 Conestoga Mall/Fairview Park http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/Rt12spring2015.pdf
13 Laurelwood http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/Rt13fall.pdf
14 Waterloo Industrial http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT14fall.pdf
20 Victoria (Setember 2015)
21 Elmira http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT21S.pdf
23 Idlewood (September 2015)
27 Chicopee http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT27S.pdf
29 Keats Way http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT29S.pdf
31 Columbia http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT31spring2015.pdf
33 Huron http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT33S.pdf

GRT Cambridge
51 Hespeler Rd. (all branches - 51A, 51B, 51C) http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/Rt51S.pdf
52 Fairview Park/Ainslie Street (all branches - Preston Pkwy., Cherry Blossom) http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT52S.pdf
53 Franklin Blvd. http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT53S.pdf
61 Conestoga College-Cambridge Ctr. http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT61spring2015.pdf
67 Lovell Industrial http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/RT67spring2015.pdf
203 Maple Grove iXpress http://www.grt.ca/en/routesSchedules/resources/rt203spring2015.pdf

As you can see, I would mainly be working out of Conestoga Mall, The Boardwalk, Forest Glen, Fairview Park, Ainslie Street and Cambridge Ctr. I have also mentioned to one of my classmates, I told her that everyone in my class is always welcome on my bus.