A number of Waterloo Region bus routes will be affected by Grand River Transit’s plans to trim more than $500,000 from its budget.
The cuts, which were approved Wednesday night by regional councillors, come at the same time transit officials are undertaking $4 million worth of new and expanded services, concentrated primarily in Waterloo.
“They’re really saving some money so we can put the money where it’s best used, and that’s expanding the service,” regional chair Ken Seiling tells CTV.
A total of 15 routes will be affected by the cuts, with most seeing some trips eliminated entirely and others seeing reduced service during evenings and weekends.
Four bus stops along Biehn Drive in Kitchener’s Brigadoon neighbourhood will be taken off the transit map entirely.
The iXpress 200 route will also be affected, with buses along that line running every 15 minutes during the summer – down from a frequency of every 10 minutes the rest of the year.
Many of the cuts are focused in the summer months, when fewer people ride the bus.
“The weather allows for cycling and walking to become more of an option, and we encourage that because it’s a sustainable way to travel,” says John Cicuttin, GRT’s manager of transit development.
The cuts come on trips with among the lowest ridership numbers in Waterloo Region. Transit officials say they expect to lose 41,000 boardings per year with the reductions.
“By and large we think they’re rather minimal, and we think that the expanded service that we’re putting on this year will really please a lot of people,” says Seiling.
The reductions are expected to come into effect by the end of June.
