Hello folks!
It's been a while since I posted my last entry regarding Fall service expansion for 2023. Since then, I have become a bus operator at Grand River Transit, and now I can see two different perspectives, the passenger's perspective and the driver's perspective. This entry will cover two key aspects: the core routes at Grand River Transit and Late Night Service (24-hour service). Let's dive into Grand River Transit's core routes!
Grand River Transit: Core Routes
The core routes are the busiest within Cambridge, Kitchener, and Waterloo. I will break down each core route and identify the service area to which it belongs. Let's start with the Cambridge Core routes.
Cambridge Core Routes
Cambridge has a smaller service area, so the busiest routes in Cambridge are very identifiable. The core routes are:
51 Hespeler
53 Franklin
61 Preston
203 Maple Grove iXpress
206 Corontation iXpress
302 ION Bus
Kitchener Core Routes
8 Weber
10 Pioneer
12 Westmount
16 Strasburg-Belmont
20 Victoria-Frederick
204 Highland-Victoria iXpress
205 Ottawa iXpress
301 ION LRT
Waterloo Core Routes
7 King
201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress
202 University iXpress
301 ION LRT
These are the core routes for all 3 cities. Now, there has been discussion of Grand River Transit operating 24-hour service, which will become a reality in the next 5 years, with ridership growing at a rapid rate, as well as the Region of Waterloo will have a population of 1 million residents. Not only can overnight service be beneficial to workers in the industries, as well as the local stores who would like to remain open for 24 hours can also. This would bring in jobs as well as boost the local economy for growth and prosperity. Overnight service should have the core routes, which are identified above, that should be your overnight network, except for the ION, which would be combined with route 7 and route 91 Late Night Loop to create a mimic of the LRT, so maintenance of the ION rails and light rail vehicles can be maintained.
I will include the link for the Core Routes and the Overnight service that Grand River Transit is looking to do. There is a lot of service expansions coming soon, which will definitely be a positive change for riders as well as operators!
Link for Core Routes and Over Night service
https://www.grt.ca/en/about-grt/grt-business-plan.aspx#Frequent-transit-network
