Entry #52: Huge Changes to GRT

Hello everyone,
I deeply apologize I have not been blogging since July, I have been extremely busy, but I have some very interesting news with respect to Grand River Transit redesign and the ION LRT and the Breslau GO station. To begin lets take a glance at Grand River Transit's plan from 2017-2021 plus the redesign from now to 2021.

Grand River Transit Business Plan from 2017-2021
This was a very interesting read. I say that because many routes will be extended to service ION stations plus 2 main routes that service the CTC (Central Transit Corridor) will be reduced. Let's take a look at the service improvements from 2017-2021.

GRT 2017 Service Improvements
201-202 iXpress
- Service frequency increased from 15 minutes to 10 minutes during the fall and winter periods
- This will reduce overcrowding on the routes

203 iXpress
- More service along route 203 to provide better connections at the new Cambridge Centre terminal

ION UW Station
- Modify routes 9 Lakeshore, 13 Laurelwood, 31 Columbia and 201 iXpress to service ION UW

205 Ottawa Street iXpress
- New crosstown route that connects Ottawa/Lackner and the Sunrise Centre along Ottawa Street.
- 15 minute service Monday to Friday, 30 minute evening and weekend service

Route 10
- Increased frequency to 15 minutes during the fall and winter times
- reduce over crowding

Route 110
- Increased frequency to 15 minutes during the fall and winter times
- New 30 minute service during the spring and summer terms

Route 27 Chicopee and 57 Blair Road
- Midday summer service returned

Routes 56 Dunbar and 75 Saginaw
More service along routes 56 and 75 to provide better connections at the new Cambridge Centre terminal

Route 77 Wilmot
- All day service

2018 (ION Launch)

200 iXpress
- Route operates between Fairview Park and Ainslie Street terminal ONLY

201 iXpress
- Extended 201 to ION Block Line

Routes 1 Queen-River, 20 Victoria-Frederick, 204 iXpress
Shifted routes 1, 20, 204 to connect with ION stations

Route 2 Forest Heights
- Extended route 2 to Fairview Park via Franklin and Wilson

Route 3 Ottawa
- Extended service to the Huron Village/Rosenburg area

Route 4 Glasgow
- Modified route 4 to connect the Boardwalk and ION Grand River Hospital

Route 8 Courtland
- Modified route 8 between Downtown Kitchener and Fairview Park connecting ION Fairview Park and ION Block Line

Route 9 Hazel
- Split route 9 into 2 routes (9 Hazel, 19 Hagey)
- both sections of route 9 would operate every 10 minutes and service ION Northfield

Route 12 Westmount
- Modified route 12 to interline with new route 18 at UW and Fairview Park
- Streamlined route 12 to Bleams, Fischer-Hallman and Westmount Roads

Route 14 Waterloo Industrial
- Modified route 14 to service ION Northfield

Route 16 Strasburg
- Extended route 16 to ION Block Line

Route 18 Weber
- New route that connects Fairview Park and UW along Weber Street and University Avenue via Downtown Kitchener.
- Interlines with route 12 at Fairview and UW

Route 19 Hagey
- New route that ION Conestoga Mall and ION UW via Lakeshore and Hagey Boulevard
- Operates every 10 minutes

Routes 11 Country Hills and 22 Laurentian West
- modified and combined routes 11 and 22 into a 2 way loop that connects the Laurentian West-Country Hills neighbourhood and the ION Block Line station

Route 26 Trillium
- New peak-only service between the Huron Industrial Park and ION Block Line

Route 27 Chicopee
- New 2-way service along Morgan Ave with extension to Chicopee Ski Hill

Route 28 Belmont-Margrate
- New route that connects ION Grand River Hospital and ION Frederick via Belmont Avenue and Margaret Street

Route 29 Keats Way
- Modified route 29 to Conestoga Mall via Lincoln, and the Dunvegan-Davenport neighbourhood

Route 73 Northlake
- Extended route 73 to service ION Northfield

Route 92 University Loop
- Shortened route 92 via Ring Road
- midday, evening and weekend service introduced

These are huge changes coming to GRT. Also, Regional council has endorsed the plan for the Breslau GO station, this would mean that routes 20 Victoria-Frederick, 23 Idlewood, 34 Bingemans, 79 Breslau, 204 and 205 iXpress would be modified to service that terminal. This would be greatly beneficial to the residence of Breslau.

Entry #51 Sunday Service

When looking at Sunday service for Grand River Transit (GRT) it is not the best service, it is very very limited. There are only certain routes that operate on a Sunday all day and there are routes that only operate during day (9:45am to 7pm) and there are routes that do not operate at all. To give an idea of what Sunday service is like here is the lists of what operates on Sundays

GRT Routes that Operate All day Sunday
1 Queen-River
6 Bridge
7 Mainline - 7A to Fairview via Connaught, 7B, 7C to downtown via Wilson and 7D branches only
8 University-Fairview Park
9 Lakeshore
10 Conestoga College
11 Country Hills
12 Fairview Park-Conestoga Mall
13 Laurelwood
20 Victoria-Frederick
27 Chicopee
51 Hespeler Road - B Branch Only
52 Fairview Park/Ainslie St - Presten Pkwy Brance ONLY
55 St. Andrews
56 Dunbar
59 Christopher
60 Northview Acres
200 iXpress
201 iXpress
202 iXpress
203 iXpress
204 iXpress

GRT Routes that Operate During the Day (9:45am to 7pm)
3 Ottawa South
5 Erb
22 Laurentian West
29 Keats Way
51 Hespeler Road - 51A Branch
54 Lisbon Pines
58 Elmwood

GRT Routes that Do Not Operate on Sunday
2 Forest Heights
4 Glasgow
7 Mainline - 7E & 7F branches
14 Waterloo Industrial
16 Forest Glen
21 Elmira
22 Laurentian West - 22 Downtown portion does not operate
23 Idlewood
31 Columbia
33 Huron
34 Bingemans
53 Franklin
57 Blair Road
61 Conestoga College/Cambridge Centre
62 Woodside
63 Champlain
64 Langs
67 Lovell Industrial

As a person that enjoys going out on a Sunday to visit friends and to do other activities around the Region, providing all day Sunday service on the routes that operate on Sundays instead of the midday service which could range from 30 minutes to 45 minutes to 60 minutes. As for the routes that do not operate on a Sunday, Sunday service would benefit having service in areas that currently do not have service, now to the list and the reason why Sunday service would benefit the neighbourhoods

2 Forest Heights
Providing Sunday service on Route 2 Forest Heights would provide a direct link between Downtown and the Forest Heights community. It would also provide more customer traffic along the route where businesses would benefit having customers coming off this route to buy their products, specifically the Giant Tiger on Greenbrook.

4 Glasgow
Since Weber Street is heavily under serviced, providing route 4 Sunday service would benefit the businesses and the neighbourhoods along the route 4 can now have service to The Boardwalk and to Downtown, and businesses would also benefit

7 Mainline - 7E & 7F branches
Since the 7F is one of the busiest branches of route 7, two-way service along Wilson would benefit the community because it would provide a direct link to Fairview Park and passengers can make connections at Fairview to go to various places throughout the Region.

14 Waterloo Industrial
Since this an Industrial bus route, extending service beyond the Waterloo Industrial park would help provide a direct link between the community of Northlake, thus replacing route 73 Northlake BusPlus. Providing service into this neighbourhood would be linking Conestoga Mall and an Industrial Park so people can get to work and go to the mall and passengers can make connections at Parkside, Conestoga Mall or to travel places throughout the Region.

16 Forest Glen
With looking at the 2017 service changes are coming up, this is one route that will be looked at, Providing evening and weekend service on route 16 would help reduce the crush load that affects the scheduling for route 10. Route 16 would help move the Conestoga College students who have weekend classes or just want to go out and go to the mall or see a film or travel throughout the Region.

21 Elmira
The townships are heavily under serviced, but because the township needs to make the request for more bus service, but providing service between Conestoga Mall, St. Jacobs Market, St. Jacobs
and Downtown Elmira would increase ridership in Elmira and St. Jacobs.

22 Laurentian West
In September 2015, route 22 got Sunday service between Highland Hills and Forest Glen plaza. Since that implementation, route 22 has come into Forest Glen a full bus, standing room only. Providing Sunday service along Strasburg, Ottawa Street and Courtland would provide a more direct link to Downtown.

23 Idlewood
Providing Sunday service on route 23 would benefit both Stanley Park Mall, Lackner Plaza, and Fairview Park, because at Fairview people can make connections to downtown, The Boardwalk, Sportsworld/Ainslie Street, Conestoga Mall and Conestoga College. 30 Minute Sunday service would benefit the Idlewood neighbourhood and the Lackner Woods Neighbourhood. When I am at Fairview Park terminal, I see route 27 pull in and wait for passengers, but route 27 leaves Fairview empty as for route 23, it leaves heading back to Stanley Park Mall a full bus, which indicates that route 27 needs to be combined with route 23 and be extended into Sims Estate neighbourhood and the Lackner boulevard corridor to Stanley Park Mall would increase ridership on route 27 or as I call the 27, route 23B Chicopee.

31 Columbia
Providing weekend service on route 31 would help reduce the crush load on routes 7, and 201 iXpress.

33 Huron
This route needs to have 7 day service because of the Industrial Park and the Huron Village is heavily under serviced. There is no other route that service the Huron Village or the Huron Industrial Park. Providing 7 day service, peak and non peak, but remove the service off Strasburg. the 16 provides service along the Strasburg Corridor.

34 Bingemans
A bus that services Bingemans park, but only during the rush-hours is an insult. But I do understand that this new route is to look at new ridership in the area, so far, the 34 is successful in getting new ridership, providing all day and possibly weekend service to Bingemans would benefit route 34's ridership and the business for Bingemans.

53 Franklin
Providing evening and weekend service on this route would provide a link between Cambridge Centre and Ainslie Street along the Franklin Boulevard corridor. Since ridership on the 53 is low, providing evening and weekend service on this route might increase ridership.

57 Blair Road
This route needs to be combined with route 53 Franklin and 62 Woodside. Ridership is dangerously low, which resulted in route 57 operating during the AM and PM rush-hours and hourly on Saturdays. With being combined with routes 53 Franklin and 62 Woodside, this would increase ridership and also provide a direct link between Cambridge Centre, Ainslie Street and Blair Road.

61 Conestoga College/Cambridge Centre
This route is the only link that connects Conestoga College and Cambridge, besides route 203 iXpress, which the extension to Conestoga College is peak only during the Fall and Winter terms, providing evening and weekend service on route 61 would increase ridership between Conestoga College and Cambridge. It would also help reduce the crush load on route 10.

Route 62 Woodside
Giving route 62 Sunday would help ridership in the Kent/Cedar area.

63 Champlain
Providing Sunday service on route 63, which services the Champlain-Christopher area of Cambridge, this route could help reduce the overcrowding on route 59 Christopher.

64 Langs
Providing Sunday service on this route would help the overcrowding on route 56, which also services Langs Drive and Eagle Street.

67 Lovell Industrial
Knowing that this is an industrial route, but it also services the SmartCentres Cambridge and the two ION Pinebush stops which would provide connections to the 200 iXpress and 51 Hespeler Road. This route services the entire L.G. Lovell Industrial park in Cambridge, but since the 203 services two Industrial parks, and it usually goes to Cambridge Centre and Sportsworld a full bus, providing service on route 67 may increase ridership between Cambridge Centre and the L.G. Lovell Industrial Park.

Entry #50 More GO Transit service for Waterloo Region

Last week, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynn made a huge announcement at the Kitchener Rail station, GO will be 2 more trains during the AM and PM rush-hours, another huge most for commuters is the GO express route 30 Kitchener-Bramalea GO. Route 30 is currently a peak only run (one trip from Kitchener train station to Bramalea in the morning and 3 trips from Bramalea to Kitchener in the afternoon). Starting September route 30 will become an all day route connecting Kitchener and Brampton. GO currently has one route that connects The Region and Mississauga, but many people may not want to go to Mississauga, so the 30 will be an alternative to travel outside the region. As for the 2 more trains in the AM and PM will also begin starting September.  Cambridge will be getting more GO bus service, which is a start to bring GO trains to Cambridge linking the entire Region to Toronto, Milton, Brampton and Mississauga. GO transit has been in negotiations with CN due to CN owning the majority of the GO Kitchener line, so the province is looking at building a new corridor just for CN freight, that would space up room to bring all-day GO train service to Kitchener. The extension of the Milton GO line into Cambridge is still being evaluated, but to help build up ridership between the Cambridge-Toronto corridor, more GO bus service will be added.

This is very good news for the GO Kitchener corridor and the GO Cambridge corridor, more service will bring more commuters and people who just want to avoid the highway and Toronto traffic, GO buses and GO trains will be looking at a large increase in ridership.

Entry #49 Construction

Since spring and summer time is the busiest time for the construction crews to work on many projects, which for the Region include widening roads, sewer grades and the LRT. Construction does have its impacts on the car and truck drivers, but it also messes up the bus travellers and schedules for the buses. With the majority of the Regions main artery roads (Franklin Boulevard, Ottawa Street, Courtland Avenue, Charles Street, King Street and so on) are closed due to construction. The best example for construction detours are Cambridge routes 53 Franklin and 203 Mid-Region iXpress. With the installation of roundabouts along Franklin Boulevard from Pinebush Road to Champlaing Boulevard, with the exception of Franklin and Glamis which would remain a traffic light, this has messed up the people using these two routes during the AM and PM rush hours along with the midday service. During the AM and PM rush hours, route 53 operates every 45 minutes, during the midday every 30 minutes, as for the 203 Monday to Saturday, it operates every 35 minutes, so being at the bus stop for these two are very important, because you literally have no idea when they are going to depart from Ainslie Street and Cambridge Centre (53) or Cambridge Centre and Sportsworld Crossing (203).
     I personally believe that during times of construction, people still need to be moved around the Region, with that being said, reducing the schedule for certain bus routes because of construction can really mess up travellers morning routines. I believe that during times of construction, there should be more buses on the road. For example, route 53 during the AM and PM rush hours, it comes ever 45 minutes, I believe that should be every 15 minutes during the rush hours and 30 during the midday, so people can remain on their morning routine. As for the 203 iXpress, that should be operating every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday and every 20 minutes on Sundays. This way people using the 203 can adjust their daily routines so that they can catch the 203 and get to work, school, and so on.

Entry #48 Peak Hour Service

What seems the be the most brought up topic to my attention is peak hour service. Peak hour is also known as rush-hour service. Before I continue on, rush-hour service is defined as service that is provided Monday to Friday between 6:30am and 9:00am and 2:30pm and 7:00pm. There are certain routes that operate during the AM and PM peak periods, those routes are routes:
1 Queen-River (every 15 minutes during the school year)
3 Ottawa South (every 15 minutes for the school year)
5 Erb (instead of interlining with the 29 during the PM rush hour, there is an extra 5 operating until the end of service)
7 Mainline (extra trips on the 7B, 7D and 7E branches)
8 University-Fairview Park (extra trips on the 8 University branches)
9 Lakeshore (every 15 minutes during the AM and PM rush hours, there are midday trips between UW and Cedarbrea due to overcrowding)
11 Country Hills (every 15 minutes for the school year)
12 Conestoga Mall-Fairview Park (during the school year, route 12 during the AM rush hour ends at University and King as for the PM rush hour goes all the way to Conestoga Mall and in the AM the peak 12 starts at Conestoga Mall, once the Universities get out the 12 during the AM and PM rush hours, end at University at King)
13 Laurelwood (every 15 minutes during the AM and PM rush hours, there are midday trips between UW and Laurelwood and Blue Beech due to overcrowding)
14 Waterloo Industrial
20 Victoria-Frederick (every 15 minutes due to over crowding)
21 Elmira (because this is a township route, route 21 operates hourly during the midday and every 30 minutes during the AM and PM peak), route
33 Huron (operates from Forest Glen Plaza to the Huron Industrial Park and the Huron Village)
34 Bingemans (Operates from Charles St. Terminal to the Shirley-Bingemans Centre industrial Park and Bingemans Park)
57 Blair Road
67 Lovell Industrial
72 Cherry Blossom BusPlus
73 Northlake BusPlus (operates from Mccorminc community centre to Northlake Drive and Conservation Drive neighbourhood)
76 Doon South BusPlus (Operates from Conestoga College Doon to the Pioneer Plaza via Doon South Drive)
77 Wilmot BusPlus (Operates from The Boardwalk to New Hamburg via Highland Road, Snyder's Road, Huron Street, and Peel Street)
91 Late Night Loop (Operates from September to June only)
92 University Loop (operates during the fall and winter terms only)
110 Conestoga College/Fairview Park Express (operates from Fall to Winter terms only)
111 Ainslie/Conestoga College Express (operates from Ainslie Street to Conestoga Cambridge and Doon ever 40-45 minutes during the Fall and Winter terms only)
116 Forest Glen/Conestoga College Express (Operates during the Fall and Winter terms only)
201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress (operates every 15 minutes for the fall and winter terms. No service from May until September  30 minute midday and 15 minute rush-hour)
202 University iXpress  (operates every 15 minutes dfor the fall and winter terms. 30 minute midday and 15 minute rush-hour)
203 Mid-Region iXpress (During the AM and PM rush-hours the 203 operates between Cambridge Centre, the L.G. Lovell Industrial Park, Hespeler, Sportsworld and Conestoga College Doon and Cambridge Campuses for the fall and winter terms. No service from May until September)
204 Victoria-Highland iXpress (Summer and Christmas time, every 30 minutes 15 minute peak)

What bothers myself the most is when a new route gets implemented, it get's peak hour service only, that gives the folks that live in the area limited service and cannot get to doctors appointments, spend time with family and friends or catch a movie during the day. In my personal opinion, there should be no peak hour service. Everything should be operating, even just hourly service to the neighbourhoods would be better than having peak service. In other cities outside the Region, for example Brampton, everything operates, there is no peak hour service.

As a person that enjoys transit, I believe that there should be no peak hour service, everything should be operating because it's all about moving people and getting them around the Region quickly with reliable transportation.

Entry #47: Route 77 Wilmot and the Possible Expansion to other Townships

Starting next Monday (April 25) GRT's new BusPlus pilot project, route 77 Wilmot will begin servicing The Boardwalk in Kitchener-Waterloo and the Wilmot Township communities of Petersburg, Baden and New Hamburg. When reading more information about this new pilot project, the Regional planners are calling for 80-90 people a day (10-11 customers per hour). When the Regional planners put that in the report for the project, this will probably become a full conventional bus (40 foot bus). A new feature for this project is the flex routing. Flex routing is when a customer has to phone into GRT and they will be sent to a dispatch agent and the agent will determine if the route can do the flex routing. Personally, I am not a fan of the flex routing (just because of it takes the route out of it's way, and if successful, the flex routing would not work for a full 40 foot bus.) 

After hearing about the project, and knowing this route will do very well, the main question that came into my head was, what about the other townships? Taking a cab from North Dumbries (Ary), Woolwhich (Breslau, Maryhill, Conestoga, Elmira, and St. Jacobs) and Wellesley (Wellesley, St. Clements, Heidlburg, Linwood) can get very very expensive.  With this being the second township bus route, the first being route 21 Elmira, and shown that the 21 is very successful, why not give the 21 30 minute service during the week and Saturdays, even introduce hourly or maybe 40 minute Sunday service to see what ridership is like. I know this is all being very thoughtful and giving bus service to the townships would provide a direct link to spending time with family and friends, getting to part-time and full time jobs, see a movie, do errands in the city, going to the Airport and making connections to other GRT routes so people can move around the Region easily and quickly. 

Personally, I believe that route 77 will be a very successful route and will turn out to be a second route 21, busy and people can make other connections with other GRT routes and move freely throughout the Region. 

Entry #46 Route 77 New Hamburg-The Boardwalk

Some exciting news for the folks that live in the communities of Petersburg, Baden and New Hamburg, GRT has finalized the routing for the busPlus route New Hamburg and the Boardwalk. The route will be named route 77 and will travel from the Boardwalk, to the Medical Centre then continue along Ira Needles to Highland Road, out Highland Road/Snyders Road East, Waterloo Street, Huron Street and Peel Road. This route will operate every 1 hour and 15 minutes Monday to Friday. This is on for a 1-year trial basis to see if the BusPlus would be a success. If proven a success, more service would probably be added to the route, and start to put a 40 foot bus on the route (something similar to the route 21 Elmira). To bring a positive look on this pilot project, I believe that this trial run of route 77 will be a success as I believe in reaching out to the townships and provide transit service so that the people will have a safe and reliable way to come in and out of the city.

Here is the the schedule for route 77 departing the Boardwalk:
7:00am, 8:15am, 9:30am, 3:00pm, 4:15pm, 5:30pm and 6:45pm

Here is the schedule leaving New Hamburg back to the Boardwalk:
7:45am, 9:00am, 10:15am, 2:35pm, 3:45pm, 5:00pm, and 6:45pm

I am very excited to take route 77 out for a ride out and back to New Hamburg from the Boardwalk!

Entry #45 2016 Service Changes and Northfield Garage

The 2016 service changes at GRT (Grand River Transit) won't be as major as mentioned in previous blog entries. This is because the college declined the U-Pass, so there will be no expansion for routes 10, 16, 61, 110, 111, 116. There will be changes to the BusPlus routes and vehicles.

BusPlus Changes
- New low floor 19 seat buses, with a front destination sign, INIT system, and new fair boxes (if not postponed again)

- New Hamburg BusPlus - routing and schedule unknown at this time

- Hayward Industrial BusPlus - this new route will operate out of Forest Glen terminal and service Family and Childrens Services and the Hayward Industrial Park. This route will operate every 15-30 minutes.

These are just minor changes to some of the lower dense neighbourhoods that GRT provides service to. There will come a time where each of the BusPluses will end up like the Cambridge route 75 Saginaw, which started off as a BusPlus and is now a 40 foot conventional bus route that operates Monday to Friday from 5:45am to 9:30pm.

Northfield Garage
With GRT (Grand River Transit) expanding rapidly with new routes and current routes being modified, there is no more room at the Strasburg garage (Central Division)  or the Conestoga Boulevard garage (South Division). Grand River Transit is has been looking at building a garage up on Northfield Drive (which would be come the North Division) so GRT operators that live out in the townships close to Conestoga Mall would have a garage to start and end at. The idea of having a route or routes service the garage like the route 3 servicing Strasburg and the 22 servicing Strasburg (walk to Strasburg @ Ottawa) and the 53 Franklin, 61 Conestoga College-Cambridge Centre, 200 iXpress and the 67 Lovell Industrial service the Conestoga Boulevard garage. The routes that could service the Northfield garage could the the 6 Bridge, 31 Columbia and 202 iXpress. Having these routes service the garage would provide the bus drivers that work out of Conestoga Mall would have more than one option to grab a bus back to the garage.

Entry #44 Conestoga College Referendum Vote Results

In this past week, the Region of Waterloo and Grand River Transit have proposed a Universal Bus Pass to the students of Conestoga College, if the U-Pass was passed, the price would be $245/year, which would be approximately $81.00 for 4 months verses the $227.00 (going up to $238.00) for 4 months. With this this would also bring a massive service frequency increase to the college:
Routes 10, 16, 61, 110, 116 would operate every 15 minutes during the AM and PM rush hours.
Route 111 would operate every 20 minutes
Routes 16, 61 would have extended service until approximately 10:30pm.
Route 61 would have 60 minute Saturday service from 10am to 6pm.
Route 10 would have 30 minute weekend service

The results of that referendum were the college was not in favour of the U-Pass. That means, three (3) years from now, the U-Pass would be proposed again and another referendum would be looked at. With the college rejecting the U-Pass, the proposed expansion and changes to routes 10, 16, 61, 110, 111, and 116 will not happen, I believe it is time to focus bus service expansion along Ottawa Street (205 Ottawa Street iXpress), the Waterloo Regional Airport (Routes 20 Victoria-Frederick, 23 Idlewood, 34 Bingemans), or even start some of the South West Kitchener changes for 2017. Next week council will decide what to do with the money they have to play with. I do hope council looks at the Ottawa Street express and bus service to the Airport. As Ottawa Street and the Airport are heavily under serviced, bus service wise, and I believe it is a good idea to start looking at it now to begin preparation for expansion service in those areas.

Entry #43: 2017 Service Changes

With the new bus service expansion at Conestoga College starting September 2016, this is because Waterloo Regional Council has approved the Conestoga College U-PASS. With the approval of the U-Pass comes major transit changes at the College:

Route 10
- Increase Frequency of AM and PM Peak service to 15 minutes
- Saturday and Sunday Service 30 minutes

Route 16
- Increase Frequency of AM and PM Peak service to 15 minutes
- Evening Service until Approximately 10:30pm

Route 61
- Increase Frequency of AM and PM Peak service to 15 minutes
- Evening Service until Approximately 10:30pm
- Saturday Service from Approximately 10am to 6pm

Route 110-116
- Increase Frequency of AM and PM Peak service to 15 minutes

Route 111
- Increase AM and PM peak period service from 40-45 minutes to 20 minutes.

203 Mid-Region iXpress 

- No change until 2017

These are some very crucial and important changes happening at the college. After this expansion comes the important expansion year, 2017, South West Kitchener and the beginning of the ION LRT. In 2017, South West Kitchener will look very different from what it looks like now. To get a better understanding, the following routes will be looked at

Route 3 Ottawa South, Route 7 Mainline, Route 8 University/Fairview Park, Route 10 Conestoga College, Route 11 Country Hills, Route 12 Fairview Park-Conestoga Mall, Route 16 Forest Glen-Conestoga College, Route 22 Laurentian West, Route 23 Idlewood, Route 27 Chicopee, Route 33 Huron, 201 iXpress , 203 iXpress and 205 iXpress. These routes will look very different and have a higher frequency service as well. The predictions I have for 2017 are:

Route 3 Ottawa South

- Increased frequency of service from 30 minutes to 15 minutes Monday to Friday

- Weekend service every 30 minutes

Route 7 Mainline

- Rationalized route 7 into 3 branches 7A via Wilson, 7B via Weber, 7C Conestoga Mall

- 7A/7B every 15 Minutes, 30 evening and Weekend

- 7C every 7.5 minutes Monday to Friday, 15 evening and weekend

Route 8 University-Fairview Park

- Removed route 8 from Franklin and introduced new service along Weber Street, Fourth Street and Connaught Street

- Increased evening and weekend service from 45 minutes to 30 minutes

Route 10 Conestoga College 

- Modified route 10 to service the Doon South neighbourhood.

- Route 10A will be via Pioneer, 10B via Doon South

- Increased route 10 to 15 minutes Monday to Friday, 30 minute evening and weekend

Route 11 Country Hills

- Modified route 11 to service Sunrise Centre from Forest Glen plaza. 

- Increased route 11 service to 15 minutes Monday to Friday, 30 minutes evening and weekends.

Route 12 Fairview Park-Conestoga Mall 

- Modified route 12 to service Fallowfield Drive neighbourhood and Block Line Road to Fairway.

- Increased route 12 frequency to 15 minutes Monday to Friday.

Route 16 Forest Glen-Conestoga College

- Modified route 16 to service Strasburg Road, Thomas Slee, New Dundee and Conestoga College Boulevard. 

- New weekend service to approximately 10:30pm. 

Route 22 Laurentian West

- Modified route 22 to service the Sunrise Centre and Fairview Park via Forest Glen Plaza

- Evening and Weekend service improved to 30 minutes

Route 23 Idlewood

- Modified route 23 into a two-way loop connecting Sims Estate, Lackner Boulevard, Franklin Street to Stanley Park Mall 

- New Sunday Service from 7:45am to approximately 11:00pm

- Evening to be extended to 11pm

Roue 27 Chicopee

- Modified route 27 to service Sims Estate and Fairway Road to the Waterloo Regional Airport. 

- 30 minute service Monday to Friday

- New midday summer service introduced. 

Route 33 Huron

- Modified route 33 to service The Boardwalk via the Huron Village, Fischer-Hallman, Huron Industrial Park, Fairview Park and Conestoga College. 

- Route 33 has new midday, evening and weekend service every 30 minutes. 

201 iXpress

- Extended route from Forest Glen plaza to Fairview Park via Block Line and Fairway Road

203 iXpress 

- Extended route from Sportsworld Crossing to Fairview Park via Conestoga College and the Huron Industrial Park

- Evening service increased from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.

- Saturday and Sunday Service increased from 60 minutes to 30 minutes. 

205 Ottawa Street iXpress

- New express route that connects Ottawa Street and Lackner Boulevard to the Sunrise Centre along the Ottawa Street corridor.

- 15 minute service Monday to Friday, 30 minute service on weekends. 

These are some of the predictions that would happen in 2017. I am not 100% sure which ones are true besides the 201-203 iXpress will be extended to Fairview. One option I would like to see is route 20 extended along Victoria Street to Lackner to Fairview Park via Franklin Street and Ottawa Street and route 23 gets combined with the 10. This is another option I would like to see. 

These are some of the options that might happen in 2017. I do not know all the changes, but the 201-203-205 iXpress are coming in 2017. The other routes, I do not know what is going to happen, these are just my ideas that might happen. We will see what the planners have for the fall of 2016. 

Until then, have a great evening and a great week everyone!