Council to increase GRT fares but rejects transit cuts

Last Wednesday, in a marathon session from 9am to midnight, Waterloo Regional council deliberated in detail on its budget. Council has not yet finalized the budget. However, in the detailed line-item deliberations so far Regional Council has shown remarkable interest in and support for transit, despite the initially proposed cuts.

Grand River Transit has had a trajectory of increasing usage and a notable recent jump in the transit mode share despite the pandemic-related decreases seen in other Canadian cities. This both reflects the growth in the local student populations as well as the launch of ION and ongoing transit network improvements. And GRT has ambitious plans for its upcoming business plan.

For the 2025 budget, Regional staff requested GRT budget expansions to address core route overcrowding among other needs. (See page 140 of the preliminary budget book.) In response to Council requests, staff also put forward a number of options for budget savings, including to transit – cutting frequency (routes 9/30, 26, 55), eliminating Route 35, removing garbage collection at bus stops, and further increasing the monthly pass cost.

GRT put up clear information about the proposed cuts online and at potentially affected bus stops, and we and others helped get the word out about them. Many people spoke at the budget input sessions, and over a thousand people filled out GRT’s survey with detailed feedback. The University of Waterloo and the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (responsible for the largest U-Pass agreement) also notably weighed in.

In their deliberations, Regional councillors expressed strong support for the role of transit in the community, and had clearly heard the feedback. Some votes were closer than others, but they ultimately supported the proposal to start reduced Summer service a week earlier, but rejected the other service cuts. Council voted for a higher monthly pass increase than planned – taking it from $96 to $104. They rejected the request for extra operational support that would have started in January but supported a scaled back version of the other expansion requests.

In addition, there were three councillor motions on transit (see page 7 here), all of which were carried. Kitchener councillor Colleen James brought a motion to increase the age for children to require fares from 5 to 7, and for GRT to identify an appropriate age for child fares in its business plan. Waterloo councillor Chantal Huinink brought a motion to decrease the cost for special 2-fare cards distributed by eligible not-for-profits. Waterloo mayor Dorothy McCabe brought a motion to add GRT service to Vista Hills and connect Routes 31 and 29.

Regional Council will be coming back this Friday, December 20 to consider several Councillor motions for additional cost-cutting and to finalize the budget. If you appreciate Council pulling back on the proposed cuts or have other thoughts, you can contact them here.

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Appendix: notes

If you are looking for a bit more flavour of the council discussion, we took some non-comprehensive notes:

GRT Proposed Service Cuts and Fare Increases:

• Fare increase: Further increase of the GRT monthly pass to $104: CARRIED 10-3
  • The original planned increase would take the pass to $100.
  • Motion amended so that the Affordable Transit Program pass is unchanged.
• Reduction: Route 30 Ring Road & 9 Lakeshore 20 min to 30 min: DEFEATED 6-9
  • Mayor McCabe comments that the neighborhood of Lakeshore is already underserved as route 30/9 was already cut Fall of 2024 from 15 mins to 20 mins, confirmed by Commissioner Spooner, who adds that route 73 that also covers the neighbourhood was removed in Fall 2023
  • Mayor McCabe comments that many highschool students live here and already do not have a direct route to school, cutting this further would add more motor vehicle traffic for school pick ups. Area also has a high low-income population, and this would be a triple hit for them
• Removal: Route 35 Greenbrook: DEFEATED 2-13
  • Mayor McCabe asks, if the route is removed, does it take it out of the business plan considerations?
    • Commissioner Spooner says the business plan would not re-introduce this route
  • Chair Redman asks: how did this route get up for removal consideration?
    • Commissioner Spooner says there are 205 customers a day with only morning and afternoon peak service. However, it services seniors and a medical centre. He also mentions that it just recently replaced the removed route 2, and routes take around 3 years to reach mature ridership
• Reduction: Route 55 Grand Ridge 30 min to 60 min: DEFEATED 1-15
  • Councillor Wolf says it would defeat the route as 60 minutes would make it unusable; Cambridge is already underserviced
  • Commissioner Spooner says it has 350 daily customers, with a significant senior population, with a far walk to the closest route, iXpress 204
  • Mayor McCabe counters Councillor Wolf on Cambridge service, stating that they added 43,000 hours to Cambridge 2 years ago
• Reduction: Route 26 Trillium 50% less trips: DEFEATED 7-8
• Summer Service Reduction 1 Week Earlier: CARRIED 9-6
  • Councillor James asks when summer service reductions begin
    • Spooner: Summer service reductions start in June with exact date fluctuating
• Bus Stop Garbage Can Removals: DEFEATED (Vote count unclear)
  • 367 stops have garbage cans out of 2,500 stops
  • Garbage cans in busses are too small; they don’t accept large items, fill up quick and are only emptied nightly
  • Mayor McCabe comments that these bins are mostly pet waste, which the waste audit 2 years ago corroborates, along with disposable cups and other litter; she says lower tier municipalities should be responsible for more waste bins around in parks and public areas more generally

GRT Proposed Service Expansions:

• Core Network Improvements : 8 FTEs (already amended) CARRIED 9-6
  • These improvements are a response to ridership growth and overloaded routes, and would start in September
  • Councillor Huinink comments that if we’re increasing price of monthly passes we must increase the services too
• Customer Driven Operational Adjustments for Transit Reliability DEFEATED 5-10
  • These would have been extra service hours starting in January
• Improving Mobility Plus Capacity, including Late Night Service: 2 FTE: CARRIED 15-0
  • Councillor Huinink says current service is not meeting equity goals; she had to call Mobility Plus 15 times to come to council
• Transit service support for safety compliance of vehicles, licenses, and customer service: 13 FTEs (previously amended)
  • Amended further to decrease the number of FTE (full time employees) from 13 to 8 - CARRIED 13-2
  • Vote to add 8 Transit service support FTEs as amended: CARRIED 13-2

Councillor Motions:

• Councillor James: Changing the Definition of GRT Child Fares from 4 & Under to 6 & Under: CARRIED 13-2
• Councillor Huinick: Decrease Cost of Special EasyGO-2 Fare Cards: CARRIED 12-3
• Mayor McCabe: Improved Transit Service for the Vista Hills Neighbourhood: CARRIED 15-0
  • Mayor McCabe also referenced the industrial business park the city is developing behind the Costco, and mentioned that businesses want transit before committing to it