GRT sees drop in ridership, expects $7.6 million in lost fare revenue
Posted Sep 10, 2025 10:59:17 AM.
Last Updated Sep 10, 2025 11:32:51 AM.
New numbers coming from Grand River Transit (GRT) are pointing to a steep decline in riders, leading to an expected $7.6 million dip in fare revenue.
Those numbers come from GRT’s performance dashboard and are compared with 2024. The agency is reporting a drop of nearly two million riders between January and May compared with last year.
It cites a decline of international post-secondary students throughout the region as a key contributor to the decline, losing out on a large portion of consistent transit-goers throughout the year.
The drop in both ridership and fare revenue has led GRT to look into various avenues to recover some of the lost seats.
Those ridership strategies include:
- Increasing the age limit for free ridership from 4 years old to 6 years old
- A program with Waterloo Region District School Board, offering high school students in magnet programs, including French immersion, free unlimited rides
- Increased attention to Mobile Ticket app
- Adding further concrete pad stops throughout Waterloo Region
The mobile app has already seen some general increases in numbers for GRT, with over 140,000 fare products sold since the program first launched. It gives additional ease for residents throughout the region to purchase single and group fares from home.
The push for further concrete slabs has created 32 stops throughout the year so far, with another 30 more planned before the fall.
All of this is on top of GRT, noting that it will be looking to improve its overall reliability and punctuality through additional expansion of transit priority lanes and queue jump lanes.
Over the summer, three transit priority lanes were put into effect, including Frederick Street at King Street, Parkside Drive at Northfield Drive, and Wilson Avenue at Fairway Road. GRT stated it expects this to improve the travel times and connections for upwards of 4,000 riders.
The hope for GRT is that, whether offering various programs or increasing awareness, it can increase the overall number of people using its operations, all in hopes of getting more seats filled across its transit options through the remainder of 2025 and beyond.
