Ion rapid transit has landed in Waterloo Region.
As of Monday, the 200 iXpress – the original Grand River Transit express bus, which largely runs along the future light rail transit route and onward to Cambridge – has been renamed the ‘200 iXpress/ION Bus Rapid Transit’.
Aside from the name, the biggest difference between the two is that the buses in Cambridge have started using Hespeler Road instead of Conestoga Boulevard.
Regional transportation officials are quick to point out other advantages, including the ability for buses to adjust traffic lights or move into dedicated lanes to avoid traffic delays.
The six Ion stops also feature larger shelters for waiting passengers, with new lighting and electronic information displays.
And what’s most important, they say, is what’s yet to come.
“This is the first step to LRT in Cambridge,” project engineer Brendon Simon said in an interview.
In total, it takes the buses about 40 minutes to travel the 17 kilometres between the Ainslie Street transit terminal and Fairview Park Mall.
Currently, the buses in use for the 200 route are the same iXpress buses in use prior to this week.
That’s not expected to change until 2017, when light rail transit starts running through Kitchener and Waterloo.
At that point, buses along the 200 route in Cambridge will be rebranded with the Ion logo.
Harkirat Ghutra rode one of the buses from Cambridge to Kitchener on Tuesday.
He said his experience on the new route was “quite nice,” but did offer one suggestion for transit planners.
“The bus should have Wi-Fi,” he said.
Monday also marked the start of service on the 204, a new iXpress route serving Kitchener.
The route runs along parts of Ottawa Street, Lackner Boulevard and Victoria Street, through the downtown and then west on Queen Street, Highland Road and Ira Needles Boulevard.
Both routes are offering free rides on Fridays until Dec. 18.
