Grand River Transit provides preview of new business plan for next decade

Grand River Transit provided an early preview of its new business plan for the service over the next 10 years.

The plan includes several key areas, including updating its conventional bus and train services, MobilityPLUS and Kiwanis Transit, township services and a fare strategy.

The service received 2,500 responses from surveys conducted during the spring and summer last year, 450 ideas to a proposed service map, and hosted more than 30 events, such as workshops and pop-up stations, across the region.

Some of the improvements in the plan include making transit free for children under the age of 12, a new fixed route between Breslau and the Region of Waterloo airport, and a new highway route, which would combine the 302 ION bus with a “direct highway connection between Fairway and Conestoga Stations” and would create a new route between Conestoga and Sunrise Centre Stations.

For the townships, two new routes are proposed connecting Wellesley with Conestoga Station and the village of Ayr with the 401 Business Park to Conestoga Doon Station, and improvements would be made to Route 77 (Wilmot) and Route 21 (Elmira).

Kevan Marshall, the incoming Manager of Transit Development at GRT said the new plan is projected to have benefits for riders across the region.

“Compared to today, the average rider will be able to reach 38,000 more people and 15,000 more jobs in a one hour transit trip,” said Marshall. “Overall, transit trips will become more competitive and affordable compared to cars or rideshare.”

The plan will be presented to the regional Sustainability, Infrastructure and Development Committee on April 8. A public input session is scheduled for April 16.

The full business plan can be viewed here. The full report headed to the committee can be found here.