Hello folks,
I do hope you all are doing well and staying safe during these times. I have learned more about the service expansions happening in Kitchener-Waterloo, I will also touch a little bit on the GO Transit service improvements coming back. So without further a due, here's the potential Summer expansion for Grand River Transit
Route 2 Stirling - Route to be discontinued, replaced by routes 1 Queen-River, 3 Ottawa South, 8 Weber, 12 Westmount, 16 Strasburg-Belmont & 201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress.
Route 2's ridership never recovered from the pandemic; unfortunately, route 2 buses have been running empty. With that being said, and with routes 1, 3, 8, 12 and 16 covering most of the service area route 2 covers, it balances itself out. There will be spots along route 2 where there will be a longer walking distance between routes.
Route 73 Northlake BusPlus - Route to be discontinued, service coverage by routes 9 Lakeshore, & 19 Hazel.
Route 73 is another route in which the ridership never recovered, very similar to route 2. So the resources for routes 2 and 73 will be deployed along the other routes within the system.
Route 8 Weber - Frequency Increased
Route 8 is to operate every 15 minutes Monday to Friday from the beginning of service to 7pm. This change would most likely occur during the Fall of 2023. Route 8 is one of the busiest routes in Kitchener-Waterloo. Route 8 covers Weber Street and University Avenue, Downtown Kitchener, and Fairview Mall in Kitchener.
Route 12 Westmount - Frequency Increased
Route 12 is to operate every 15 minutes Monday to Friday from the beginning of service to 7pm. This is another service improvement to occur during the Fall of 2023.
Route 31 Columbia - Weekend Service
Route 31 serves Conestoga Mall ION Station, Davenport Road, Frobisher Drive, Bridge Street, Chesapeake Drive, New Bedford Drive, Eastbridge Boulevard (Eastbridge Neighbourhood), Lexington Road, Columbia Street, University of Waterloo ION Station. This route needed to get 7 days a week of service, especially when servicing the University of Waterloo and Conestoga Mall, as a helper route for route 201 iXpress, which experiences overcrowding, route 31 can be used as an alternative. This service improvement would happen either in the Summer or Fall of 2023
Route 33 Huron - Weekend Service
Route 33 serves the Sunrise Centre and Block Line Stations along Fischer-Hallman Road, Seabrook Drive, Huron Road, Ludolph Street, Woodbine Avenue, Parkvale Drive, Strasburg Road, Block Line Road, Courtland Avenue and Lennox Louis Way. Route 33 has gotten very busy since the pandemic, and ridership for this route has been on the rise for a long time. This service change could happen in the Summer or Fall of 2023.
Route 36 Thomas Slee - Weekend Service
Route 36 Thomas Slee serves Conestoga College Doon Campus and the Robert Ferrie/Forest Creek along Conestoga College Boulevard, New Dundee Drive, Robert Ferrier Drive, Doon South Drive and Thomas Slee Drive. Route 36 serves the Doon South neighbourhood. This route has had a major spike in ridership over the few years. Even during the pandemic, it was very popular because of the neighbourhood it served. This improvement would most likely happen in September of 2023.
