203 Maple Grove iXpress: With the introduction of new weekend service on the 203 Maple Grove iXpress, this will provide travellers an alternative to get to Cambridge. This iXpress route connects Sportsworld Crossing and the Cambridge Centre via the Lovell Industrial Park, Cambridge Industrial Park, and the community of Fisher Mills along the Franklin Boulevard and Maple Grove Road. Since the introduction of this iXpress route, it has gotten busy as GRT riders have found another way to get to Cambridge Centre as well as getting people to work on weekends. The one thing I would like to see for this iXpress is for it get be extended out to the Conestoga College Doon and Cambridge campuses during the midday and weekends to provide another alternative for passengers to get to other destinations. As I am beingnning to see a trend between the industrial routes (route 14 Waterloo Industrial, 33 Huron, 34 Bingemans, and 67 Lovell Industrial) will no longer be peak hour routes but be part of the service 7 days a week to provide workers and shopping centres service. Like the 203 and 52 via Cherry Blossom.
204 Victoria-Highland iXpress: This express route connects The Boardwalk and the intersection of Ottawa and Lackner via Ira Needles Boulevard, Highland Road and Victoria Street. Since the introduction of this iXpress it has gotten busier than former route 24 Highland. That is because rt. 24 Highland mainly connected Downtown Kitchener and the Forest Heights West neighbourhoods and it was 30 minutes Monday to Saturday. The 204 iXpress route connects more and it is more frequent, this iXpress route is an excellent alternative to get to places. The business on Highland Road and Victoria street get more business from passengers because the 204 is 15 minutes Monday to Friday 30 minutes evening and weekend.
1 Queen-River: This route connects The Boardwalk and Fairview Park via Downtown Kitchener along Ira Needles Boulevard, the community of Forest Heights West, Queen Street, Krug Street, and River Road. This crosstown route is amazing, it is very direct and it allows passengers to connect with other routes at The Boardwalk, Charles Street Terminal, Stanley Park Mall (board on River Rd.) and Fairview Park. This route will be extremely busy, especially during the AM and PM peak hours, the midday it can also get pretty busy, depending what time during the midday. I can see in the future that route 1 gets 15 minute service all day to provide connections with routes at each of route 1
2 Forest Heights: This route connects Charles St. Terminal and the communities of Forest Hill and Forest Heights. Since this route has been expanded beyond Fischer-Hallman, it can be a greater improvement from what its original routing. With rt. 2 servicing Rolling Meadows Dr., Driftwood Dr., and Westheights Dr., it will get busy and will pick up more service.
7B via Weber: Streamlined this section of the route 7 Mainline to provide direct service along Weber Street to Fairway Road, with route 1 servicing Kinzie and Thaler, route 7B will be more direct and can make connections faster.
8 via Franklin: With the removal of the East Ave. extension this gives passengers more time to make connections at Fairview Park and Charles St. Terminal.
20 Victoria-Frederick: This route has been combined with former routes 15 Frederick and 19 Victoria South to provide an East-West crosstown route connecting The Boardwalk and Stanley Park mall via the Victoria Street and Frederick Street corridors the Heritage Park neighbourhood and Downtown Kitchener. I like this route that it is very direct and can provide other connections with other routes along Victoria Street and Weber Street. Since this route no longer services Charles St. Terminal, there are other routes that route 20 can connect with. Like on Weber Street route 4 Glasgow, 6 Bridge and 8 University-Fairview can be connected with route 20, and on Victoria Street route 7 Mainline, 6 Bridge, 34 Bingemans and 204 Victoria-Highland iXpress can be make connections with to get to the Charles St. Terminal.
22 Laurentian West: With the introduction of Sunday service route 22 is going to require more than 60 minute Sunday service. Since the service started on September 7 (Labour Day) nothing was open, but this up coming weekend, the malls are open so that means route 22 will get much busier than normal.
23 Idlewood: Since this route has been modified to operate along Zeller Drive, Oldfield Drive, Holborn Drive, Old Chicopee Drive, and Fairway Road connecting Fairview Park and Stanley Park Malls, it has gotten much busier than traveling along Lackner Boulevard. The main issue I have seen is that the seniors have to transfer in order to get to the Frederick Street mall (route 20) and downtown kitchener (route 1). If the route 20 was combined or interline with 23, it would provide more options for people as well as get busier than normal. Sunday service along route 23 would make it more attractive to passengers.
27 Chicopee: Since this route got its frequency increased during the evening and weekends, I can see ridership picking up. In 2014, route 27 lost its summer service due to low ridership, but since the evening and weekend has been increased, I can see that lost ridership being gained.
34 Bingemans: This route needed to happen. Bingemans has a bus route that can get families to their park as well as the employment area along the Bingemans Centre and Shirley Ave. corridors. There is one problem, this route is peak hour only (6:30-9:10am, 2:30-6:00pm). This route I can see getting service all day (like the 203 Maple Grove iXpress) to get people to Bingemans, with the possibility to get the route to service the Bingemans Park property. I can also see that this route can get busy.
This is my review of the new Grand River Transit service improvements.
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