Hello GRT route #2 supporters!

Thank you for your patience with this update. There’s plenty to cover as June comes along. We do have dates and times for the info sessions:

Grand River Transit is hosting public information sessions about the changes being made this fall to Routes 2 and 73 and alternate service options.

Routes 2 and 73: Virtual information session

Monday, June 5

7-8:30 p.m.

There will be a short presentation at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A.

The link will be posted to grt.ca/plans ahead of the event.

Route 2: In-person information session

Wednesday, June 14

Drop-in session between 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Room 2, Forest Heights Community Centre

1700 Queen’s Blvd., Kitchener

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Since my last update we’ve come through a transit strike. Though I am glad it was resolved fairly quickly, I know having all buses off the roads made things very difficult for many in the region and illustrated the need for more investment in transit not cuts. 

One of the more interesting email exchanges I had during the strike is shared below:

“Craig Dyer, the Chief Financial Officer for the region of Waterloo provided this detail about the funding for operations: 

"The Region’s annual public transit operating budget is just over $200 million, which is predominantly (~95%) funded by property taxes and transit fares. About $11m (~5%) is funded by the Provincial Gas Tax transfer.  "

I responded that, ok, so GRT has not been operating now for 2 days (probably 3 days by the time you read this) - so that’s ($200,000,000 per year/365 days per year) = $547,945 per day (minus an amount for no cash fares - minus an amount because I'm sure there are residual operating costs even in a strike situation). For just the one day then is enough unexpected, unallocated 'operating' $$ to cover route 2 to the end of 2023 at least! (~400,000).

I asked to claim the $$ for Route 2 :)”

The strike lasted 9 days. I’m curious as to what happens to the nearly $5 million in operating costs that wasn’t spent during those 9 days.

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Ruth Gaskovski, a citizen directly impacted by the closure of route 73, the only other route cancelled, has taken up informing the communities and her local politicians of the negative impacts of the decision. Ruth has begun her own petition for route 73, it deserves its own platform and attention! We share the belief that transit is vital and should be built up, not cancelled and turning even more areas in the region into car-dependent neighbourhoods. That in itself goes against the region’s own plan. Please consider signing and supporting the riders of route 73, the petition can be found here.

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There’s a good number of links to share about media coverage and regional council action:

• The Record connected with Ruth about the impacts of 73’s cancellation, you can read that article here.

• City of Kitchener councillors for Ward 7 Bil Ioanndis and  Ward 8 Margaret Johnston have been working away on this for us, brief updates were shared in the Kitchener Citizen. 

• Luisa D’Amato published an opinion piece this past Friday regarding transit cancellations, “A decision to cancel two bus routes was made without consulting the people that ride the buses, so it’s a bad decision no matter what”. You can find the piece here

• The Record reached out to us again to share some thoughts on a motion regional councillor Kari Williams was bringing to council, you can read that article from May 5th here. 

On May 9th, the Planning and Works Committee of the Region of Waterloo Council met. The meeting is viewable on YouTube here. Relevant discussion begins at the 32 minute mark of the meeting.

I am grateful to Cllr. Williams for creating this motion. It reads as such: 

WHEREAS The #2 GRT bus route is a route that many residents in the Forest Heights, Forest Hills, Stirling and Stanley Park neighbourhoods rely on to get to school (3 high schools), to medical appointments, and affordable grocery stores;

AND WHEREAS there are many vulnerable populations that use this route such as: low income, seniors, youth, and those with cognitive and physical disabilities;

BE IT RESOLVED THAT Regional Council direct staff to continue with planned public information sessions, explore alternatives to mitigate the closure of route #2, and report back to Council on these alternatives in June 2023.

The motion passed, with an amendment to add route #73 to the reports region staff will create. As we understand it, these reports are to initiate viable alternatives. This could range from adjusting schedules to peak times to changing nearby routes to mitigate the loss and continue service to schools, medical services, communities and transit connections. I would like to believe this is a glimmer of hope. We’re looking forward to the first info session and believe the region and GRT will hold them in good faith with our communities to develop real alternatives. 

I want to thank Cllrs. Johnston, Williams and James and Mayor Vrbanovic. The cooperative work they’ve been doing as our municipal and regional representatives is appreciated. They’ve connected with our school trustees and are keeping them informed. They’ve been supporting and advocating for Kitchener’s route 2, the folks who rely on it and bringing a broader perspective to the regional discussion. 

We all understand this decision was made to ‘save’ GRT $1.6 million over 2 years (as mentioned at the start, this is less than half of what wasn’t spent in operating costs during the strike). No one is debating that. The other way to look at it is people who access transit with route 2 and 73 will no longer be paying transit fares or buying bus passes, they’ll no longer be connecting to other routes or the LRT. They’ll no longer be transit users. So what is GRT actually financially saving?  While that may seem hyperbolic, there’s really interesting reading and studies about how far transit users globally will walk to varying levels of service. 400m is the global standard of how far folks will walk to catch a bus.

The “usual catchment area” Mr Goetzke refers in the meeting is GRT’s own metric of 450m to the nearest stop of another route, this applies to *some* in the  Route 2 service area, it’s well over a kilometre for many others. There’ll be two new ‘lower ridership’ routes with the loss of the 2 and 73, are they the next to go?  Is public transit for the public or for profit?

Thank you for sharing conversations, information, and questions with me. Keep them coming to savegrtroute2@gmail.com. With our city growing and neighbourhoods changing it is not the time to cancel transit and all involved are capable of developing a viable solution.

I’ll end on a fact that reminds me to be confident in this petition and hopeful for a solution.  Change.org is a global platform, people from every digitally connected part of the world can see the petitions on it, we’re closing in on 1500 signatures and the vast majority are from Waterloo Region. Thank you for caring, thank you for sharing, thank you for signing!

The public information sessions are happening soon, get them in your calendars:

Routes 2 and 73: Virtual information session

WHEN: Monday, June 5, 7-8:30 p.m. 

WHERE: The link will be posted to grt.ca/plans ahead of the event.

There will be a short presentation at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A.

Route 2: In-person information session

WHEN: Wednesday June 14. Drop-in session between 6:30 and 8:30pm

WHERE: Room 2, Forest Heights Community Centre, 1700 Queen's Blvd Kitchener

Let’s show up!

If yourself or anyone you know who may need assistance getting to the in-person information session on the 14th you can connect with me, Meredith, at savegrtroute2@gmail.com and let's chat about how we can get you there!