Entry #33 Transit Stations/Terminals

When looking at transit routes they can service an area and service more than one transit station. For people that do not use transit, a transit station is where routes servicing that area connect and passengers can transfer to another route. In the Region of Waterloo, there are many transit stations/terminals for passengers to make connections with other routes. Below I will start with Waterloo and end with Cambridge terminals and the connecting routes as well. 

Waterloo Transit Stations

Conestoga Mall Station

Connecting Routes: 6 Bridge, 7 Mainline, 9 Lakeshore, 12 Fairview Park-Conestoga Mall, 14 Waterloo Industrial, 21 Elmira, 31 Columbia, 200 iXpress Ainslie Terminal, 201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress, 202 University iXpress

The Boardwalk Transit Station*

Connecting Route:s 1 Queen-River, 4 Glasgow, 5 Erb, 20 Victoria-Frederick, 29 Keats Way, 202 University iXpress, 204 Victoria-Highland iXpress

Uptown Waterloo

Connecting Routes: 5 Erb, 7 Mainline, 200 iXpress

Kitchener transit Stations

The Boardwalk Station*

Connecting Routes: 1 Queen-River, 4 Glasgow, 5 Erb, 20 Victoria-Frederick, 29 Keats Way, 202 University iXpress, 204 Victoria-Highland iXpress

Highland Hills Mall Station

Forest Glen Transit Station

Connecting Routes: 3 Ottawa South, 11 Country Hills, 12 Fairview Park-Conestoga Mall, 16 Conestoga College-Forest Glen, 22 Laurentian West, 33 Huron, 201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress

Fairview Park Transit Station

Connecting Routes: 1 Queen-River, 7 Mainline, 8 University-Fairview Park, 10 Conestoga College, 12 Fairview Park-Conestoga Mall, 23 Idlewood, 27 Chicopee, 52 Ainslie St. Terminal-Fairview Park, 200 iXpress Conestoga Mall-Ainslie Terminal

Stanley Park Mall Station

Connecting Routes: 1 Queen-River (Board on River Rd.), 20 Victoria-Frederick, 23 Idlewood

Charles St. Terminal

Connecting Routes: 1 Queen-River (Temporarily until LRT construction is completed), 2 Forest Heights, 3 Ottawa South, 4 Glasgow, 6 Bridge, 7 Mainline, 8 University-Fairview Park, 11 Country Hills, 22 Laurentian West, 34 Bingemans, 200 iXpress Ainslie Terminal-Conestoga Mall

Conestoga College*

Connecting Routes: 10 Conestoga College-Fairview Park, 16 Conestoga College-Forest Glen 61 Conestoga College-Cambridge Centre, 111 Conestoga College-Ainslie Street Express, 110 Fairview Park-Conestoga College Express, 116 Conestoga College-Forest Glen Express, 203 Mid-Region iXpress

Sportsworld Crossing Station*

Connecting Routes: 52 Fairview Park-Ainslie St. Terminal, 72 Cherry Blossom BusPlus, 200 iXpress Conestoga Mall-Ainslie Terminal, 203 Mid-Region iXpress

Cambridge Transit Station

Sportsworld Crossing Station*

Connecting Routes: 52 Fairview Park-Ainslie St. Terminal, 72 Cherry Blossom BusPlus, 200 iXpress Conestoga Mall-Ainslie Terminal, 203 Mid-Region iXpress

Hespeler Transit Station

Connecting Routes: 51 Hespeler Rd. 

Cambridge Centre Station

Connecting Routes: 51 Hespeler Rd., 53 Franklin, 56 Dunbar, 60 Northview Acres, 61 Conestoga College-Cambridge, 64 Langs, 67 Lovell Industrial, 200 iXpress Conestoga Mall-Ainslie Terminal, 203 Mid-Region iXpress

Ainslie Street Station 

Connecting Routes: 51 Hespeler Rd., 52 Fairview Park-Ainslie St. Terminal, 53 Franklin, 54 Lisbon Pines, 55 St. Andrews, 57 Blair Road, 58 Elmwood, 59 Christopher, 62 Woodside, 63 Champlain, 111 Conestoga College-Ainslie Express

The stations that were marked with a star (*) are in both cities so that passengers can make connections with intercity buses that can take them to Waterloo-Kitchener, Kitchener-Cambridge. 

Future Stations

With the implementation of the ION LRT there are transit stations that will be removed/reallocated to a new location. For example, Highland Hills station will be discontinued because everything is being moved towards the Boardwalk station. The only two routes servcing Highland Hills will be the 204 and 201 iXpress. Sunrise Centre will become a station to have route 22 Laurentian West and future 205 Ottawa Street iXpress will be servicing. There is the possibility of the route 2 and route 33 servicing it as well.  Forest Glen station will be moved to Block Line to provide connections with the LRT. 

The King-Victoria station will only have 2-3 routes starting there, everything else will be on-street parking. 

Entry #32 Possible 2016 Changes

Since I posted regarding the 2015 changes in less than three (3) weeks, I am starting to look at the possible 2016 changes at GRT. From what I was told, 2016 and 2017 are going to be huge years for the transit redesign in the Region of Waterloo. So let's start looking at the possible 2016 changes!
Possible routes to be changed/added service in 2016

Route 3 Ottawa South
I can see this route being modified and combined with either route 11 Country Hills or route 22 Laurentian West. With the combination of route 3 into another route, it could increase the ridership for more Sunday service. Looking at the combination of route 3 and route 22, modify it into a two-way loop linking the Strasburg, Ottawa Street, and Activa corridors. Service would be removed from Highland Hills and added onto Isiah Drive and the Sunrise Centre.

Route 9 Lakeshore 
Increase evening service from 60 minutes to 30 minutes and Sunday service from 45 minutes to 30 minutes and removed the Kumpf Drive extension.

Route 10 Conestoga College
Route 10 needs to be modified. It is a very busy run, so what can be done to modify the 10? Send the 10 into the Doon South Neighbourhood. Removed Bechtel Extension New service along Autumn Ridge trail, Thomas Slee, Robert Ferrie, Doon Village, Manitou and Fairway Road. Increase service from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.

Route 11 Country Hills
I can see only three routes actually turning around at the new King-Victoria Transit hub. Those routes are Route 2 Forest Heights, Route 11 Country Hills, and route 34 Bingemans. Route 11 would be modified to service Queen Street and Highland Road and Hoffman Street corridors. New Service along Ottawa Street to Kingswood Drive to the Block Line Station. 15 minute peak service and 30 minute midday, evening and weekend service.

Route 12 Conestoga Mall-Fairview Park
To reduce time on the route 12, I can see it staying on Westmount Road to Northfields Drive (as Westmount becomes Northfield) this would provide a direct link from Fairview Park, Block Line Station and Conestoga Mall. 15 minute service Monday to Sunday.

Route 14 Waterloo Industrial
Modfiy route 14 as a one-way loop connecting Conestoga Mall, the neighbourhood of Northlake and the Waterloo Industrial Park. 30 minute service Monday to Sunday.

Route 16 Forest Glen-Conestoga College
Modify route 16 to service the Pinnacle-Pioneer Corridors. New service along Country Hill and Old Country Drive. Removed Behin Drive extension, 30 minute service Monday to Sunday

Route 20 Victoria-Frederick
Extended route beyond the Stanley Park Mall terminal to Fairview Park via Oldfield Drive and Zeller Drive (20A) and Lackner Boulevard and Sims Estate Drive (20B) to Fairview Park. 20A and 20B 30 minute service Monday to Sunday.

Route 22 Laurentian West
Modified and combined route 3 Ottawa South and route 22 Laurentian West into one route. 15 Minute peak service 30 minute midday, evening and weekend service.

Route 27 Chicopee
New two-way service along Morgan Avenue with new service into the Sims Estate neighbourhood.

Route 29 Keats Way
Extended service beyond University/King turn around to Conestoga Mall station via University Avenue, Weber Street, Lincoln Street, Bridge Street, Dunvegan, and Davenport. 15 minute peak and 30 minute midday, evening, and weekend service.

Route 31 Columbia 
New 30 minute weekend service until 10:30 pm.

Route 51 Hespeler Road
Added new service along Jamison Pkwy (51B Melran) to provide a direct connection for the community of Melran and the Hespeler terminal. 51A and 51B 30 minute evening and Sunday service.

Route 52 Fairview Park-Ainslie Street Terminal
New 30 minute evening and weekend service for the Cherry Blossom Corridor.

Route 53 Franklin
New 60 minute evening and weekend service.

Route 61 Conestoga College-Cambridge Centre
New service along Shantz Hill and Preston Pkwy corridor, 30 minute evening and weekend service introduced.

Route 67 Lovell Industrial 
Modify and combined routes 56 Dunbar, 64 Langs and 67 Lovell Industrial to provide a two-way loop connecting the Lovell Industrial Park and the Eagle Street, Dunbar and Langs corridors. New 30 minute midday, evening and weekend service introduced.

Route 75 Saginaw
Modify and combine route 60 Northview Acres and route 75 Saginaw into one route. New two-way service along Elgin Street, Saginaw Parkway corridors. 30 minute evening and weekend service

203 Mid-Region iXpress
Extend service from Sportsworld Crossing to Conestoga College Doon and Cambridge campuses. 30 minute midday, evening and weekend service.

New Cambridge iXpress
It could be the Coronation iXpress or the South East/South West Cambridge iXpress. I am not sure

This is what I think 2016 might look like, I might have some right others may not happen in 2016 but are planned for the future.

Entry #31 My Alternative 2015 Changes

With the new service changes for September just three (3) weeks away, I have looked at where more
service could be added and where it would be revised.

Here is my "alternative" changes for September 2015. 

204 Victoria-Highland iXpress

15 minute service Monday to Sunday with 30 minute evening and late night service.

205 Ottawa Street iXpress

The introduction of the Ottawa Street iXpress would provide a direct link from Ottawa and Lackner to the Sunrise Centre along Ottawa Street. This route would operate every 15 minutes Monday to Sunday and 30 minute evening and late night service.

Route 1 Queen-River (Blue) 

I have left route 1 Queen-River as it is, but I added a new branch along the Franklin Street corridor to Wilson Avenue. During the rush-hour periods, route 1 would operate every 7.5 minutes (15 via River and 15 via Franklin) during the midday, evening and weekend each branch would operate every 30 minutes. The entire route would run every 15 minutes.

Route 2 Forest Heights (Maroon) 

This route would remain as is, the only thing that would be added would be Sunday service as a 6 month trial period. Route 2 would start off every Sundays every 60 minutes, and if ridership demand is there, it would be increased to 30 minutes and permanent.

Route 7 King-Weber (Red) 

Condensed route 7 into the King Street and Weber Street corridors. Route 7 would operate every 7.5 minutes Monday to Saturday with 15 minute Sunday service. A modified route 1 Queen-River and route 8 would be servicing Wilson Ave and Connaught Street.

Route 8 via Weber/Connaught (Green)

Streamlined route 8 into Weber Street to provide a direct link from Fairview Park to King and University via Weber Street. Sunday service would be increased from 45 minutes to 30 minutes.

Route 20 The Boardwalk-Fairview Park (Purple)

This route was interesting to look at. Since my hobby is scheduling and planning, I looked at various models to see what could be done. Approved for September 2015, route 20 would be connecting Stanley Park mall and The Boardwalk along the Victoria Street and Frederick Street corridors and the Heritage Park neighbourhood. The model that I looked at for my version of route 20 was a combination of route 52 Fairview Park-Ainslie Street Terminal and route 51 Hespeler Road.

In 2014, routes 51 Hespeler Road, 65 Fisher Mills, 66 Wintson and 71 Melran were combined because of budgeting issues. When I looked at that, that provide a Cambridge crosstown route that connected Downtown Galt, Preston and the Hespeler Village with 3 branches 51A Fisher Mills via Queen (Weekday) 51B Melran and 51C Fisher Mills via Franklin (to be discontinued September 2015 due to 203 iXpress weekend service). These branches except the 51C are busy. The 52 has two branches, 52 Fairview Park-Ainslie St. via Preston Pkwy., and 52 Fairview Park-Ainslie St. via Cherry Blossom. 

When I looked at the finalized route 20, it combined routes 15 Frederick St., 19 Victoria South, and 20 Victoria Hills, my version of the 20 combined routes 15 Frederick St., 19 Victoria South, 20 Victoria Hills and 23 Idlewood. Providing bus service along the Lackner Boulevard and Fairway Road corridors and extending it through the Idlewood, Zeller Drive, Oldfield Drive and Sims Estate Drive neighbourhoods, this would provide a crosstown route connecting Fairview Park, Stanley Par Mall and The Boardwalk via Downtown Kitchener. Route 20 would have 2 branches, 20A Fairview Park-The Boardwalk via Zeller Dr. and 20B Fairview Park-The Boardwalk via Lackner Blvd. 30 minutes each branch Monday to Sunday

Route 34 Bingemans (Dark Purple) 

This route would remain the same, the only difference would be the Centennial-Forewell section would be rush-hour only and during the midday, evening and weekends, route 34 would go into Bingemans Park to provide front door service (IF Bingemans allows buses on the property) every 30 minutes. 

That is my "alternative" changes for September 2015. Please provide comments and other ideas for this map. Comments and ideas are always welcomed. 

Have a great day

David Sej

Entry #30 Late Night Bus service

Since the Region of Waterloo (Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo) is developing and growing at a rapid rate, more and more people are looking at moving into the Region as well as looking alternative ways of getting around because of the increasing price of gas. The best solution to that would be looking at adding service to the iXpress routes (200 iXpress Ainslie-Conestoga, 201 Fischer-Hallman iXpress , 202 University iXpress, 203 Maple Grove iXpress, 204 Victoria-Highland iXpress, and future iXpress routes) the route 7 Mainline, route 8 University-Fairview Park, 1 Queen-River, 20 Victoria-Frederick, 23 Idlewood, 10 Conestoga College, 16 Forest Glen, 12 Conestoga Mall-Fairview Park Mall, 31 Columbia, 9 Lakeshore, 13 Laurelwood, 5 Erb, 29 Keats Way 51A/B Hespeler Road, 52 fairview Park-Ainslie St. terminal via Preston Pkwy/Cherry Blossom, 53 Franklin, 54 Lisbon Pines, 55 St. Andrews, 56 Dunbar 57 Blair Road, 58 Elmwood, 59 Christopher, 60 Northview Acres, 64 Langs and 75 Saginaw. This would provide late night people enjoying themselves to stay out longer as well as increasing ridership in the Region. Currently, ridership for GRT has already surpassed the 2016 target, and continues to go, I personally believe that with the introduction of 24 hour bus service on certain routes this would provide people more alternatives to get around, and in the case of an emergency or someone wants to go for a late night out, late night bus service would definitely increase ridership.
The proposed idea of late night runs would leave the main routes, like the 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 7  8, 1, 12 would remain the same, but other runs would be combined, like the 20 and the 23, 5 and 29. This would provide direct service along certain corridors getting people from their nice night out to a relaxing ride home. These late night runs would be numbered in the 80's because they are not being used so it would make sense.

With the help of late night runs, the number of ridership would defiantly grow within the Region.

I hope everyone enjoyed this blog regarding late night runs.
Have a great day everyone
David Sej.

Entry #29 New September Routes & Detours

After my last blog with respect to being on hiatus, I decided to come back after looking at what the Region of Waterloo looks like with respect to the LRT construction and other construction projects occurring within the Region.

To begin lets look at the new routes for September.
I do like how our system is becoming more grid like with the creation of new transfer points. For example, to head to Charles St. Terminal downtown kitchener, passengers would have to get off at the Kitchener rail station and make connections with either routes 4 Glasgow, 6 Bridge, 34 Bingemans or the 204 (204 temporally servicing Charles St. for a year) since the route 20 Victoria-Frederick will not be servicing Charles St. terminal. Another benefit, the crosstown routes are coming back. When the "preferred" changes for September  were released, I looked at the older GRT schedules from the year 2000, I did see some similarities like the route 1 replacing route 25, but the difference is route 1 will be servicing The Boardwalk and Fairview Park mall. Route 2 will become longer again (but not combined with route 22 Laurentian West in the year 2000) and will service the Forest Heights community. With the crosstown routes making a comeback, and new subdivisions being developed, current routes are being "straitened" out to make it less "curvy." For example, Route 23 will be servicing the Fairway Road corridor and being extended into the Zeller Drive and Oldfield Drive neighbourhoods connecting Fairview Park and Stanley Park Mall. Route 34 Bingemans will be serving the Bingemans Centre corridor and Shirley Avenue employment area. This route will get extremely busy during the afternoon peak periods due to the families using the 34 to get from Bingemans Park to get home. The 204 Victoria-Highland iXpress will be heavily used. This will connect the Boardwalk and the Stanley Park Community at the intersection of Ottawa and Lackner running every 15 minutes and 30 minutes evening and Weekends. Route 27 Chicopee will have increased service from 60 minutes during the evening and weekends to 30 minutes. This needed to happen due to Freeport Health Centre. There is a lot of people that use that stop, and with more frequency for the 27, it would make it more appealing to riders. Route 7 would become straighter along Weber Street, route 1 would cover Kinzie and Thaler, route 8 would have the same routing along Weber Street.

The downside to September:

Route 1 Queen-River - The evening for Sunday service will remain the same, which is 60 minutes. I can argue that the 1 needs 30 minute service along Krug Street, River Road, Kinzie Avenue, Thaler Avenue and Fairway Road. Since the 23, which services the majority of Fairway Road, does not get Sunday service, at least some of it would be covered by the route 1, and would be popular to riders with 30 minute frequency at nights on a Sunday

Route 2 Forest Heights - I do take my hat off to the planners and schedulers that extended the 2's evening service and gave the Saturday service back, but what would make the 2 busier would be the introduction of at least a 60 minute Sunday service trial period for 6 months to see if ridership would increased then increase the frequency from 60 minutes to 30 minutes and make the Sunday service permanent.

Route 7 Mainline - Riding route 7, it needs to lose the 7D University, 7E Columbia, and 7F branches and have 3 branches 7A via Wilson, 7B via Weber and 7C Conestoga Mall and have the 92 University Loop replace 7D and 7E, but modify it to become an express to Charles St. terminal. This would have made a huge impact on route 7, but that would occur in the year 2017.

Route 8 via Franklin - Route 8 should be servicing Connaught Street from day 1 when it came out. The 8 should be traveling down Franklin Street to Connaught Street to and from Fairview Park. This would help the current schedule and the connections route 8 would make.

Route 20 Victoria-Frederick - Keewatin Avene and the Heritage Park shopping plaza are losing bus service. What I believe the 20 should be servicing is Lorraine Avenue, Lackner Boulevard, Keewatin Avenue, Holborn Drive, Old Chicopee Drive and Ottawa Street. This would provide 7 day a week service, plus 15 minute rush-hour service so people can make connections at Stanley Park Mall.

Route 22 Laurentian West - Providing Sunday service between Highland Hills and Forest Glen is a good idea, I do know what the planners are planning to do. Once they see the numbers for September, 2016 or 2017 is when route 11 loses it's Strasburg Extension and the 22 would get full routing on Sunday. I am not sure how the 11 would be modified to operate on a Sunday.

Route 23 Idlewood - No service on Lackner Boulevard. That is a huge problem for those houses on Lackner. the 23 should have 2 branches, a Sims Estate Drive-Lackner Boulevard Branch and a Fairway Road-Zeller Drive branch, each brach would operate every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday, 60 minutes Sunday. Sunday service for each branch would start out like previously mentioned for the route 2, 6 month 60 minute trial period for each branch, if ridership increases, then increase each branch to 30 minute Sunday service.

Route 27 Chicopee - Route 27 should also be servicing Sims Estate Drive with 2 way service on Morgan Avenue, and Summer midday service would be reinstated for the passengers to get to Freeport Health Centre.

Route 34 Bingemans - This is a peak only bus service. From what I heard, Bingemans has been fighting for YEARS to get bus service, and they get service, but peak only. That to me is an insult, I can see Bingemans continue fighting to have 7 day a week bus service. I can see plans being changed for the 34. The 34 Centennial-Forewell section would be peak only, and have the 34 turn around within Bingemans Park - Front Door Service!

204 Victoria-Highland iXpress - No service to Stanley Park mall on Sundays. This would be a very good connection maker of the 204 went to Stanley Park Mall temporally. It would provide 7 day a week service along Ottawa Street, and a reliever for the 23 when it gets busy.

205 Ottawa Street iXpress - No Ottawa Street iXpress until 2017. This is a huge shocker. When I chatted with the planners, they were in full favour of implementing the 205, but because of LRT construction and budget the 205 would be deferred until 2017. I personally believe, implementing the 205 would help with the 204 because the 204 turn around is Oldfield and Shaftsbury. If you got goosebumps, yes that turn around, in my personal opinion is not the safest of turn arounds. Temporally, the 204 should have been extended to Stanley Park Mall to provide connections with routes 1, 20, and 23. Plus Ottawa Street would get Sunday service.

That is my look for September, now for the detours.

The Detours in the Region are getting worse and worse by the day. The main roads are under construction AND the side roads are under construction. It is like we are getting boxed in like rats, and the only way to get around construction is to walk or bus. I understand that many people do not like that idea, but if you can't get anywhere you have to re-evaluate you options and take a chance. Yes, I do understand there will be delays, but people may enjoy taking their minds off the construction and just relaxing.

I do hope everyone has enjoyed this blog post, have a great evening everyone!

David Sej.

Entry #28: Job Hunting & Hiatus of Blog

It has occurred to me, I have been looking for a full-time position since April (since I have finished my program of Public Service at Conestoga College). I have been looking for a good job since then, but all that was left were not so good jobs. So I did some looking around, and came across a place that employers go to advertise their jobs and look at the applications they get in, as well as conduct interviews there as well. Since I have a background in factory work (working all three shifts morning, afternoons and nights) I have decided to reopen looking into factory work. The position I looked at specifically was for a packager in Waterloo. I applied to that and now I wait to see what happens. The shift I would more than likely take would be the nightshift and then work my way back up into afternoons and mornings. I do understand a lot of my new friends might be upset finding out I might be working nights at factory, but it is only temporary until I can look at pursuing a new career.

Since I announced that I applied to that position, and hopefully I can get a call back for an interview, I will be putting the blog on hiatus until further notice.

I would like to thank everyone who has read the blog for these past years, I do hope to start it up again in the future, but I am unsure when.

Have a great evening/day folks

David Sej

Entry #27: New routes for September 2015

Good day everyone,
most recently, I was watching the Region of Waterloo council meeting for the approved transit improvements, although they were approved in February Regional council all they wanted was to give it the "stamp of approval". The changes for September include:

200 iXpress: new stop at Parkside Dr. and Northfield
ION aBRT: Connects Fairview Park and Ainslie St. terminal via highway 401 and Hespeler road. 10 minute peak hour service, 30 midday, evening and weekend service.
201 F-H iXpress: New stop at Fischer-Hallman / Queens to make connections with routes 1 & 2
NEW 204 Victoria-Highland iXpress: New express route that connects Ottawa/Lackner and the Boardwalk via Victoria Street, King Street, Duke Street, Frederick/Benton Street, Queen Street, Highland Road and Ira Needles Blvd to the Boardwalk. 15 minute weekday service, 30 minute evening and weekend service.
Route 1 Queen-River: a crosstown route that connects Fairview Park mall and The Boardwalk via Fairway Rd., River Rd., Krug St., Queen St., and Ira Needles. 30 minute evening and weekend service and 15 minute peak-period (Rush-hour) service.
Route 2 Forest Heights: connects downtown Kitchener and the Forest Height and Forest Hill neighbourhoods with two way service along Highland Rd., Stirling Ave. S., Greenbrook Dr., Westheights Dr., with service to Highland Hills mall via Queen Street. 30 minute service Monday to Saturday.
Route 7B via Weber: removed service from Kinzie Ave. and Thaler Dr., streamlined service to Weber St. E.
Route 8 via Franklin: Removed East Ave. extension and added service along Weber St. between Bordon Ave. and Frederick St. at all times.
Route 20 Victoria-Frederick: New service from the Boardwalk to Stanley Park Mall via Victoria St., Weber St., and Frederick St. to Stanley Park mall via the Heritage Park neighbourhood (Natchez Dr., Halifax Dr., Confederation Dr., Lorraine Ave., River Rd.). 15 Minute during peak periods, 30 minutes  Midday, evening and weekends.
Route 22 Laurentian West: 60 minute Sunday service between Highland Hills Mall and Forest Glen Plaza.
Route 23 Idlewood: New service along the Fairway Rd., Zeller Drive, Oldfield Dr., Ottawa St., and Holborn Dr. neighbourhoods connecting Fairview Park and Stanley Park Mall 30 minutes Monday to Saturday.
Route 27 Chicopee: New two way service along Morgan Ave. and 30 minute evening and weekend service.
NEW Route 34 Bingemans: New route that connects downtown Kitchener and the Wellington St., Shirley Ave., Bingemans Ctr. Dr., and Centennial Rd. employment area. 30 minute peak-hour service ONLY.

I like seeing improvements within the GRT system, but there are a few things that are bothering me about September, and they are routes 22, 23, 27, 34 and the aBRT. Why did I single out these routes and not the others? Let me explain, route 22 Laurentian West is one of the busiest routes at GRT. It connects Downtown Kitchener, Forest Glen Plaza and Highland Hills via the Laurentian West and Activa neighbourhoods. Why is the new Sunday service for route 22 bothering me? It is because only half of the 22 would get Sunday service, the other half would not. The half that is getting Sunday service which is between Highland Hills and Forest Glen plaza. The other half (Forest Glen and downtown Kitchener) would not get Sunday service. In my own personal view as well as my experience riding route 22, the full routing of route 22 should get Sunday service. If only half of the route gets Sunday service, don't run the route.
Route 23 has no Sunday service. As a person that frequently uses route 23, and more than likely will become a regular on the 23 and 20, there needs to be Sunday service on the 23. Adding 6 day a week service is good, but Sunday service would be nice. I did how ever, read the report, and the planners did mention that there was no budget money for additional Sunday service, but it did sound like the 23 might get Sunday service in the future (2016-2017).
Route 27, what can I say about route 27, besides that ridership is slowly slipping on it, I honestly believe that route 52 would replace it,  but the planners want to have a more of a grid system for KW and Cambridge (i.e. Toronto). So by taking the 27 off of King Street (between Fairway and River) and adding service on Morgan might help save the 27 from being on the chopping block.
Route 34, as I have road on the 15 Frederick Centennial extension (I swear I will never ride that extension again because it's busy) it will get very busy, and it is also servicing Bingemans' Park, who have been fighting for bus service for years, and finally get one, but it's peak hour only. That will make people decided walk to Victoria St. to catch the 204 iXpress, which is a very bad idea. Victoria Street is busy. My proposal is to have the Centennial section of the 34 be peak only and during the midday, evening and weekend, have it turn around within Bingemans so that people can get dropped off and come home.
The ION aBRT is going to replace the Cambridge portion of the 200 iXpress. Beginning September 2015, the 200 iXpress will only go between Conestoga Mall and Fairview Park mall and the ION aBRT would be covering the Cambridge portion. This will force people that ether transfer to the aBRT, or route 52, or take the 10 to Conestoga College and wait for route 61 at the college. This can make people have second thoughts about the ION LRT as well as seeing the bus passengers transfer rather than just stay on the one route that covers all of Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo.

There is some sad news, when I was walking along King Street downtown Kitchener, between Andrew Street and Victoria Street, all of the business are gone. They closed up due to LRT work, no one could get to them so what was the point, I have a feeling skyscrapers will replace the old businesses along King street so that people can live in the downtown core.

So there is what is in store for September, I do hope everyone has a great day and I will see you all again in the near future!

David Sej