News roundup: October 15, 2025

Here’s the latest in walking, biking, and transit news for Waterloo Region for the last month. Subscribe to get updates delivered directly to your inbox! You can also follow us on Bluesky and Instagram.

What’s happening

• GUELPH TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT: brings together experts, community leaders, and transit enthusiasts to explore innovative solutions and promote accessible, equitable, and sustainable transportation. Happening Saturday, October 18, 10 am to 5 pm. 68 Suffolk St. W., Guelph. Featuring multiple topics and speakers from Waterloo. Register free here.
  • Are you driving to the summit and able to take other attendants with you or thinking of attending but need a ride as there is no direct GO bus service between Waterloo and Guelph on weekends? Check out our carpooling coordination form.
• AIRPORT GROWTH PLAN: YKF is having a public information session Wednesday, October 15, 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Region of Waterloo International Airport – Departures Lounge. There is also a survey available on EngageWR.
• G2G RAIL TRAIL: The Region of Waterloo has begun early planning and design work for a proposed pedestrian bridge over the Conestogo River, as part of the Guelph to Goderich (G2G) Rail Trail. A public meeting will be happening Thursday, October 16, 6pm to 8pm at Wallenstein Bible Chapel (4522 Herrgott Rd, Wallenstein). (EngageWR)
• PROVINCIAL DAY-OF-ACTION TO SAVE SPEED CAMERAS: Friends and Families for Safe Streets is organizing a province wide day-of-action on October 20.
• PETITION: Progress Toronto has a petition to save speed cameras
• 2026 PLAN AND BUDGET: Region of Waterloo is currently undergoing engagement for next year’s plan and budget (EngageWR)
  • Kitchener Farmers Market: Saturday, October 25, 2025 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
  • Cambridge (Location TBD): Monday, November 10, 2025 5:00 pm
  • Strategic Planning and Budget Committee - Public Input: Tuesday, November 18, 6:00 pm

Walking, biking, and streets

• Waterloo Region Police Partner with Project 529 to protect and recover bicycles from theft. (Community Edition)
• CTV News: Concerns raised over planned pathway through Kitchener’s Rockway Gardens
• CycleWR: Our Response to the Rockway Fairway Transportation Connections Project
• CTV News: Thousands of charges against drivers withdrawn in Ontario as critics decry [court] system in ‘shambles’
• Speed Cameras
  • CBC News Toronto: Parents, children rally against Ford’s planned speed camera ban
  • The Record: Did you get a speed camera ticket? Almost two million Waterloo Region speeders did not: Data shows 97 per cent of speeders are escaping tickets at 17 schools even as cameras measure their speed.
  • Most Ontario municipalities ticket at 11km above the limit or over (Toronto Star)
  • Ontario Traffic Council, 20-plus mayors, including of Waterloo and Cambridge, urge Doug Ford to compromise on speed camera ban (Toronto Star, The Record)
  • The Record: Waterloo Region councillors call for significant changes to speed camera program
    • Coun. Colleen James wants to pause the expansion of speed cameras in the region, while Regional Coun. Doug Craig from Cambridge wants them shut down immediately.

Transit

• A local architect is calling on Cambridge residents and leaders to support the proposed extension of the ION, arguing it will secure the city’s future as a vibrant, connected community (Cambridge Today)
• Cambridge Today: LETTER: Cambridge’s future tied to LRT expansion, says former mayor
  • As federal and provincial funding opportunities hang in the balance, Cambridge must approve higher-density developments needed to justify expanding the region’s LRT system, writes Kathryn McGarry
• GRT is piloting plastic seats. Scan the QR code on the seat and complete the survey by Oct. 31. (GRT Instagram)
• Work continues at the Bramalea GO train station in Brampton, which will make room for an additional track to accommodate two-way, all-day service on the Kitchener line. (INsauga)
• Global News: Ford government introduces hiring freeze for Metrolinx and other agencies
• Global News: Ontario’s auditor general to investigate how Metrolinx picks subway stations

The shape of our cities

• Region of Waterloo: Region of Waterloo 2025 State of the Region: Getting one million ready. Mentions of finishing ION Phase 2, Kitchener Central Transit Hub, Breslau GO, and improved rural transit
• ION continues to spur developments in Uptown Waterloo (EngageWR, CityNews, The Record)
• Cambridge moves forward in developing vision for Preston Secondary Plan around ION Stage 2 station, but there is unease around growth. (The Record)
• The Record: Municipalities need a say in local planning decisions, Kitchener motion says

Elsewhere

• Toronto Star: Premier Doug Ford’s government is focused on removing less than a kilometre of bike lanes in Toronto, internal documents show.
• Guelph Today: Free Guelph Transit pilot projects for teens and seniors fail to increase overall ridership
• CUTA: Canadian Urban Transit Association releases a national documentary focused on transit safety from the perspective of front-line workers, filmed across five major Canadian cities
• Global News: Finch West LRT about to enter final test, could open to public next month
• Ontario Newsroom: Ontario Completes Construction of New Confederation GO Station in Hamilton