Student advocates petitioning city to improve late-night transit options in Waterloo

A local student group is looking to give people who late-night commute from Uptown Waterloo to the University District better, safer, and more affordable options.

Damian Mikhail is the co-president of the University of Waterloo NDP Club and one of the organizers of the Night Transit Student Advocacy Group.

According to Mikhail, there are no safe and reliable options for travelling between Uptown Waterloo and the university district after midnight, Uber prices are expensive at those times, and walking is unsafe.

The group wants to see Routes 91 and 92 continue throughout the night, giving nightshift workers and students trying to get home a link to take them from Uptown Waterloo to the university area.

Route 91 was discontinued by the GRT during the pandemic when bars and restaurants weren’t as popular, as there weren’t enough passengers on those buses to justify their commute.

In researching travel options to get from Uptown Waterloo to the university area after midnight, the group found using rideshare services to be unaffordable, costing as much as $37 at peak hours.

Mikhail added that, just a few days ago, he missed the last bus and had to walk 40 minutes home after a late-night study session, something not all students have the option of doing.

The GRT said they will be launching consultations on their five-year business plan later this year, giving them a chance to look at future route expansion.

Right now, over 1000 people have signed the group’s petition.

“We’ve gotten a lot of support from the council on this, we’ve gotten a lot of support from students as well, we’ve only had a positive reception to this,” said Mikhail.

Students will head to the council chambers on April 24 to chat with the council about the return of night transit.