Grand River Transit's business plan will provide a roadmap to guide transit investment priorities over the next 10 years and beyond. The GRT Business Plan builds on transit priorities identified through the Region’s Strategic Plan and Budget consultations. It will focus on how to make transit easier to use, where and when GRT can serve you better, and how and where GRT should prioritize frequency and speed.

There are three different pieces to the GRT Business Plan. Together, the plans will help make GRT the easy transportation choice across Waterloo Region.

Conventional Bus and Train Business Plan

• Frequent transit network (FTN): Improve frequency to 10 minutes on weekdays (7 a.m. - 7 p.m.), and 15 minutes all other times, on 16 routes.
• Consistent schedules: Add trips to make schedules more consistent, so transit schedules are intuitive. GRT will focus on improving existing evening, weekend, and mid-day schedules to make transit easier to use.
• Highway express: Introduce rapid services to give riders up to 20 minutes back in their day. Services include combining 302 ION Bus with a direct highway connection between Fairway and Conestoga Stations, and introduce a new route connecting Conestoga and Sunrise Centre Stations.
• New coverage areas: Introduce routes serving the growing residential and industrial areas in Southeast Cambridge, Cambridge industrial areas, Southwest Kitchener, and North Waterloo.
• Overnight network: Launch 24/7 service on key routes, with 30-minute overnight frequency supporting shift workers, students, and core areas.
• Learn more about the proposed transit investments

MobilityPLUS and Kiwanis Specialize Transit Service Plan

• Service investment: Introduce new staff resources, modernize technologies, and increase fleet to meet growing demand for MobilityPLUS services and work toward the target of no unmet trips.
• Expand service hours: Extend MobilityPLUS service hours, in coordination with GRT overnight service expansion, by using existing accessible taxi partnerships.
• Improve MobilityPLUS customer experience: Use new technology and improvements; collect data to improve MobilityPLUS services; evaluate conventional fare free policy; better understand customer needs; improve customer engagement and communications; and improve coordination between MobilityPLUS and Kiwanis Transit.
• Learn more about the MobilityPLUS Business Plan

Township Transit Strategy

• Consistent schedules: Enhance fixed-route services for Wilmot and Woolwich.
• New coverage areas: Introduce future fixed routes for North Dumfries and Wellesley to connect to GRT’s core network.
• Airport service: Introduce a new frequent, all-day, fixed route service to Breslau and the Region of Waterloo International Airport, with connections to GO and intercity services at the future Kitchener Central Station and Sportsworld Station.
• New on-demand transit: Add on-demand transit zones in each Township to support access to fixed-routes and expand GRT’s township service area.
• Alternative delivery models: Investigate opportunities for alternative service delivery models, such as co-mingling specialized transit and rural-on demand transit to enhance operational efficiencies.
• Learn more about the Township Transit Strategy

New Fare Strategies

• Kids ride free: Provide support to families and caregivers by introducing free transit for children 12 years and under, riding with a fare-paying customer.
• More discounts for those in need: Enhance GRT’s Affordable Transit Program to provide bigger discounts to those with the greatest financial need.
• Fare pricing: Future fare price increases will be proposed to match annual service expansion, inflation, and to align to comparable transit systems.
• Support employers and employees: Expand transit business account offerings using GRT Pay.