Region pens province asking for more GO train, bus service

More buses and more trains.

In an open letter penned to the province, the Region of Waterloo is asking the Government of Ontario to expand local GO Transit service.

“Residents were saying buses were passing them by because they were over capacity,” said Region Chair Karen Redman on The Mike Farwell show on Monday.

Redman said there’s been a lot of talk about how big the region is expected to grow over the next few decades, but those discussions can often gloss over the fact that growth is happening now.

“And we have university students and college students, as well as employees and employers, who are relying on public transit to move people where they want to go, when they want to go,” she said.

The letter, dated June 22 and addressed to both the transportation minister and associate transport minister, comes as the province also rolled out new bus routes to Brampton over the weekend.

“I was pleased to see the swift action by Minister [Caroline] Mulroney and Metrolinx who added new buses to Brampton on weekends which I think is really important,” Redman said. “I was hearing from residents, that’s what they wanted.”

Last week’s letter does, however, call for more.

“That the government continue to expand GO bus service, not only to the Greater Toronto Area, but also to nearby centres like Hamilton, Guelph, and Brantford,” it reads.

It also asks for an updated timeline for the delivery of two-way, all-day GO train service to Toronto.

“For decades, municipalities, our three post-secondary institutions, and local employers have repeated a consistent and sustained push for two-way all-day GO train service on the Kitchener line,” the letter also reads. “Can you provide our community with updated timelines for delivering on this commitment?”

The letter also goes on suggests talks be held at the upcoming Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in London in August about furthering commitments to a GO station in Breslau as well as GO train service to Cambridge via Fergus.

“There are always competing needs,” acknowledged Redman. “[But] we had an all-council meeting last week and we had a presentation by all three heads of the local hospitals talking about a new hospital.”

“We know that we want to see the LRT Phase 2, we know that we want investment in the Breslau GO station–we can make a very cogent case that, economically, it makes sense to continue to invest in the Region of Waterloo.”