Grand River Transit

Infobox Bus transit
name =

logo_size =

---

image_size = 250px
image_caption = Wheelchair-accessible low-floor buses such as this Nova LFS now form the majority of the GRT fleet. The bus is also equipped with a bicycle rack on the front grille
company_slogan =
parent =
founded = 2000
headquarters = 250 Strasburg Rd., Kitchener
locale =
service_area = Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, St. Jacobs
service_type = Bus service, Paratransit
alliance =
routes =
destinations =
stops =
hubs =
stations =
lounge =
fleet =
ridership =
fuel_type =
operator = Region of Waterloo
ceo =
website = [http://www.grt.ca/ GRT]

Grand River Transit, or GRT, is the public transport operator for the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It operates daily bus services in the region, primarily in the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge.

It was named for the Grand River, which flows through the Region; the naming also echoes the Grand River Railway, a former electric railway which served the area in the early twentieth century. GRT is a member of the Canadian Urban Transit Association.

Overview

On January 1, 2000 the Region of Waterloo created GRT by assuming the operations of the former Kitchener Transit (which also served Waterloo) and Cambridge Transit from these cities. By the end of that year, operations had been fully synchronised and buses began running between Cambridge and Kitchener; as a result, ridership in Cambridge improved dramatically, and there has been increases in services, including Sundays, and late evening Mondays-Saturdays.

In recent years, many new low-floor, wheelchair-accessible buses have been purchased, principally from Nova Bus, Orion, and New Flyer, and these now constitute the majority of the fleet. Most operating buses are less than twenty years old, though a few older buses are used primarily for high-school special runs. GRT has also in recent years installed bicycle racks on the front of its buses in order to encourage the use of sustainable transport; all standard and express buses now have these racks.

Service to less dense areas is provided by the busPLUS system, large vans which take regular fares on scheduled routes to new neighbourhoods and more remote facilities; if ridership is sufficiently high, these services can later be replaced with regular buses, as happened with the 71 Melran route in Cambridge.

GRT also operates Mobility"PLUS", which provides specialised transit for disabled patrons using minibuses equipped with wheelchair lifts.

The GRT fleet consists entirely of motor-buses; although the former Kitchener Transit operated trolleybuses earlier in their history, these had all been withdrawn during the 1970s, well before the systems were merged. They have continued operating 23 compressed natural gas-driven buses inherited from Kitchener Transit, but have not expanded this fleet. Until the 1950s, the area was served by electric passenger and freight trains run by the Grand River Railway, who even earlier in the 20th century had run streetcars on city streets before the separated railway lines were built.

Effective September 1, 2007 all undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo are required to purchase a 4-month UPass [http://boris.feds.ca/upass] for less than a quarter of the equivalent adult monthly pass.

On February 14, 2008, the GRT and members of CAW4304 planned to go on strike, disrupting and shutting down Waterloo Region's transit system entirely, however a tentative agreement was reached before 12:01 AM. [http://news.therecord.com/article/304806]

History

"Kitchener"

* Berlin Gas Company 1888-1894 horsecar
* Berlin Street Railway 1894-1906 - electric car
* Berlin and Bridgeport Railway Company 1904-1906
* Berlin Public Utilities Commission 1906-1916
* Kitchener Public Utilities Commission 1916-1973
* Kitchener Transit 1973-2000

iXpress

As part of its autumn service expansion, on September 6, 2005, GRT launched an express bus service called iXpress ("i" for intelligent because of ITS being implemented) along a central transit corridor running from Conestoga Mall in north Waterloo, mainly along King Street and Highways 8, 401, and 24 (Hespeler Road) to the Ainslie Street bus terminal in downtown Cambridge. In order to provide faster service, the iXpress stops only at thirteen stations along its route, rather than having many closely-spaced request stops as do most other GRT routes. The express bus is not considered sufficient to meet the Region’s long-term needs, but is seen as a way to build up ridership levels in order to demonstrate the viability of GRT’s plans for higher-grade transport services.

iXpress uses the same fare and ticketing structure as the rest of GRT’s bus routes. The buses do not bear GRT’s usual livery, but instead are white with a large iXpress logo on each side. These buses can be occasionally seen running regular routes, when the fleet is short on operable standard-livery vehicles, which recently has been quite frequent.All buses with iXpress livery are Nova LFS models purchased in 2004, numbered from 2406-2420. Occasionally, a bus not painted in iXpress livery is used on the route, but this is relatively infrequent. Even more infrequently, a bus other than a Nova LFS can be seen on the route, usually an Orion VII purchased in 2003.

The bus route, which is supported in part by funding from the federal government, presently runs on weekdays and Saturdays, every fifteen minutes during peak times and every half-hour at midday and on Saturday. GRT reports that the buses are given priority at fifteen intersections, and that future expansion will add further priority measures such as queue-jump lanes, along with enhanced stations offering real-time passenger information, lockers, and bicycle racks.

Though it replaces and expands the former "Express Route 101", which had provided peak-time express services between Fairview Park Mall and University of Waterloo, iXpress is internally numbered as Route 80 on run numbers, while most public signs and maps mainly refer to it by its name only. Originally, signs at iXpress bus bays at the Kitchener Transportation Centre (the main downtown terminal for the K-W division) described the iXpress as route 200, but this was soon removed. Digital displays on the dashboards of iXpress buses currently refer to it as route 200.

In early 2006, new bus shelters were installed along the iXpress route, at McCormick, R&T Park, UW, Laurier, and Grand River Hospital stations. These new shelters are state-of-the-art, and are powered by a solar panel on the roof. Of a modern design, more are to be installed at other stations in future. Other features currently being rolled out include real-time tracking, which will show what time the next bus will arrive, through a GPS system installed on the buses. Electronic displays with this information, along with maps, are being added to the specialized shelters. On June 30th, 2007, the iXpress added daytime Saturday service; September 2007 saw the addition of evening weekday service and Sunday service. [http://grt.ca/web/transit.nsf/DocID/B556123DFF6AE13E85256B210066A182?OpenDocument]

iXpress Stations

* Conestoga Mall (King Street near Conestoga Parkway and Northfield/Conestogo Roads) "Conestoga Mall is a major shopping centre located on 550 King Street in north Waterloo. It is used from people all over the region, and also features a key bus terminal, serving routes 7 Mainline, 9 Lakeshore, 12 Fairview Park Mall, 14 Bathurst (peak, operates in accordance with most factory shift changes), 21 St. Jacobs (Thursdays and Saturdays Only), 31 Lexington, 32 Kumpf (peak, operates in accordance with most factory shift changes) and 35 Eastbridge."
* McCormick (Albert McCormick Community Centre, Parkside Drive and Cedarbrae Avenue)" This is a skating rink, community centre and library branch that is mainly used by people in Waterloo; it connects with routes 9 Lakeshore and 73 busPLUS Northlake)"
*R&T Park (University of Waterloo Research & Technology Park, Hagey Road and Wes Graham Way)" The University of Waterloo’s Research and Technology Park station is used mainly by students; the iXpress and GRT's Late Night Loop are the only routes to currently run on Hagey Boulevard"
*U Waterloo (University of Waterloo, Davis Centre)" Connecting routes include 7E UW via Columbia Street (proceeds to the Charles Street Terminal via University Ave), 9 Lakeshore, 13 Laurelwood and 31 Lexington. Nearby routes at University Avenue and Seagram Drive include 7D UW via University Avenue (proceeds to the Charles Street Terminal via Columbia), 8 University/Fairview, 12 Fairview Park Mall/Conestoga Mall and 29 Keats Way"
*Laurier (Wilfrid Laurier University, University Avenue and Hazel Street) "Connects to 7 Mainline, 8 Fairview, 9 Lakeshore, 12 Fairview Park Mall/Conestoga Mall"
*Uptown Waterloo (King Street beside Waterloo Town Square) "Connects to 7 Mainline, 5 Erb West, 35 Eastbridge"
*Grand River Hospital (King Street and Pine Street) "Connects to 7 Mainline, and nearby 4 Glasgow"
*Charles Terminal (downtown Kitchener bus terminal on Charles Street, formerly known as the Kitchener Transportation Centre) "Connects to the 1 Stanley Park, 2 Forest Hill, 3 Ottawa South, 4 Glasgow, 6 Bridgeport, 7 Mainline (All branches: A-F), 8 University/Fairview, 11 Country Hills, 15 Frederick, 18 Guelph Street, 19 Victoria South (weekday rush hours only), 20 victoria Hills, 22 Laurentian West, 23 Idlewood, 24 Highland, 25 Queen South, and out-of-town buses (Greyhound, + Coach Canada and other charter lines)"
*Ottawa (Ottawa Street and Charles Street) "Connects to 7 Mainline, 1 block north on King Street"
*Fairview (Fairview Park Mall, Kingsway Drive near Wilson Avenue, or Fairway near Highway 8) "This is Kitchener’s major shopping mall, with connections to 7 Mainline, 8 King & University, 10 Conestoga College, 12 Conestoga Mall, 17 Heritage Park, 23 Idlewood, 27 Chicopee, 52 Ainslie Terminal and 110 EXPRESS Conestoga College; Cambridge-bound trips take Highway 8 just to the north of the mall, eventually connecting with Highway 401, express to exit 282, Hespeler Road"
*Smart!Centres (formerly Bridgecam) (the Bridgecam Power Centre at Highway 401 exit 282 by Hespeler Road, north of Pinebush Road) "A major power centre just off the 401; connections are available to route 51 Hespeler Road, and nearby routes 67 Lovell Industrial (Weekday rush hours only)".
*Cambridge Centre (on Dunbar, east of Hespeler Road) "This is Cambridge’s major shopping centre; GRT routes that serve it include: 51 Hespeler Road, 56 Dunbar, 60 Northview Acres, 61 Conestoga College, 64 Langs, 67 Lovell Industrial, and 75 busPLUS Saginaw".
*Ainslie Terminal (downtown Cambridge bus station) "This is the main terminal for Cambridge, where many of the city’s routes meet: the 51 Hespeler Rd, 52 Fairview Mall, 53 Franklin Blvd (weekdays only), 54 Lisbon Pines, 55 St. Andrews, 57 Blair Road, 58 Elmwood, 59 Christopher, 62 Woodside, and 63 Champlain; the only other GRT routes bound for Kitchener are the 52 Fairview Mall and the 111 Express to Conestoga College"

Future expansion

Grand River Transit has purchased six Diesel-Hybrid buses due to be in service by October 2008. [ [http://news.therecord.com/article/270860 TheRecord.com - Local - Green transportation initiatives can fast run out of gas] ]

Rapid transit

The Region of Waterloo is currently conducting an Environmental Assessment for the implementation of rapid transit in the area, which would boost more compact urban growth along the main corridor. A light rail or bus rapid transit line is expected to run from near Conestoga Mall in Waterloo to the southern part of Cambridge.

Fares Effective July 1, 2007

Cambridge service area

Grand River Transit has a fleet of 208 buses. These include:

*at least 75 NOVA LFS
*47 NFI D40LF
*30 Orion VII
*24 Orion V
*23 NFI C40LF
*4 GMC CLASSICS
*10 MCI CLASSICS
*4 ORION VI
*1 ORION I

Cambridge Division (ordered before incorporation)

* Leased GM New Look fishbowl (returned)
* Motor Coach Industries & GM TC40102N (Classic)
* NovaBus LFS access icon|15px
* Orion Bus Industries I 01.507 (retired in 2006)
* Orion Bus Industries V 05.501
* Orion Bus Industries VI 06.501 access icon|15px

Kitchener-Waterloo Division (ordered before incorporation)

* Flyer Industries D800-B
* GM New Look fishbowls (Retired November 2005)
* Motor Coach Industries & GM TC40102N (Classic) (ordered 1985-1989)
* Orion Bus Industries V 05.501 (ordered 1989-1990)
* New Flyer Industries D40LF access icon|15px (ordered 1992)
* New Flyer Industries D40LF access icon|15px (ordered 1994)
* New Flyer Industries C40LF Access icon|15px(ordered 1996)

Both Divisions (ordered after incorporation)

* New Flyer Industries D40LF Access icon|15px(ordered 2002)
* Orion Bus Industries VII 07.501 access icon|15px (ordered 2003)
* NovaBus LFS Access icon|15px(ordered 2004)
* NovaBus LFS Access icon|15px(ordered 2006)
* NovaBus LFS access icon|15px(ordered 2007)
* Ford minibus – F450 chassis access icon|15px

Access icon|15pxDenotes wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Facilities

Major transit terminals are operated and staffed in both Downtown Kitchener on Charles Street (Routes 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,11,15,18,19,20,22,23,24,25,iXpress) and the Galt City Centre in Cambridge on Ainslie Street (Routes 51,52,53,54,55,57,58,59,62,63,iXpress).

Unstaffed off-road satellite terminals are also in place at Waterloo’s Conestoga Mall (Routes 7,9,12,14,21,35,74,iXpress), Kitchener’s Fairview Park Mall (Routes 7,8,10,12,17,23,27,52,110,iXpress), Forest Glen Plaza (Routes 3,11,12,16,22,26), Stanley Park Mall (Routes 1,17,23), Highland Hills Mall (Routes 2,12,19,20,22,24,25), Sportsworld (Routes 52,72) and Cambridge Centre (Routes 51,56,60,64,67,75,iXpress).

Other significant transfer points include King Street/University Avenue (Routes 7,8,9,12,iXpress), the University of Waterloo (Routes 7,8,9,12,13,29,iXpress), Uptown Waterloo (Routes 5,7,35,iXpress), Holiday Inn Drive/Hespeler (Routes 51,53,65,66,68,71), Conestoga College (Routes 10,16,61,110) and the Preston Towne Centre (Routes 52,56,61,64,68)

The Kitchener-Waterloo fleet, and all central operations, are run from the agency’s headquarters on Strasburg Road in Kitchener (across from the Laurentian Power Centre); the Cambridge fleet has its base on Conestoga Boulevard, behind the Cambridge Centre.

See also

* Grand River Railway
* GO Transit
* Guelph Transit
* VIA Rail

References

External links

* [http://www.grt.ca/ Grand River Transit web site]
** [http://www.grt.ca/web/transit.nsf/vwArticles/TE-GR-TRA-LIN-3020?OpenDocument iXpress bus site]
** [http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/region.nsf/%24All/16C470A0EF982A2A85256E95005C583A?OpenDocument Announcement of light-rail study work]
** [http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/transitea Rapid Transit Environmental Assessment]
* [http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/ Region of Waterloo]