New transit route from Waterloo to Hamilton a good start, transit advocates say

A new transit route that will connect Waterloo and Hamilton starting on April 8 is a good step, but more direct routes with central stops should be on the radar for Metrolinx's future plans, transit advocates say.

Sean Marshall, an urban geographer and transit advocate, noted this is the first time a bus route will connect Waterloo region, Guelph and Hamilton. He said it's also the first time that four universities will be linked by a single bus route.

The buses are "nowhere near Toronto, so this is a big change for GO transit," Marshall said. "This is the kind of thing that is proven to build ridership."

Metrolinx announced the new bus service on its blog on March 24. When it begins, Route 17 will be an hourly weekday service that will run between University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Guelph and McMaster University.

Brian Doucet, an associate professor in the school of planning at the University of Waterloo and a transit advocate, agrees with Marshall that this route is a great start in building reliable transit connections in the western Greater Golden Horseshoe. 

"We now have a choice. Good transit is about giving people good choices," Doucet said, but added the new route has limitations. "Whatever this route is in its current form, it's the shorter journeys within the route that are a huge deal."

Regardless of what ridership will actually look like on this new route, Marshall and Doucet said these transit connections outside of the Greater Toronto Area are more important than ever. 

That's because more people want to get out of their cars, students can't necessarily afford cars and seniors want to age in place. Transit options will become increasingly important, Marshall explained. 

But Marshall and Doucet both found flaws with the new route and suggested ways it could be improved.

"It does not connect to downtown Kitchener, for example. It's really focused on those university campuses," Marshall said. 

Doucet also noted the lack of stops in central parts of Kitchener, Waterloo region's largest city.

"It would have been nice to see it go down Weber Street to downtown Kitchener. Right now you have to go up to University of Waterloo. You want to see these connections in central places," he said. 

"It's a lot of detours. It's probably a bus route that too much was asked of it."

Doucet said this new route also opens the door to think about transit options to link Brantford and Cambridge with Kitchener and Waterloo and to add Conestoga College's Doon campus to the GO Transit system as well. 

Marshall agreed. 

"This is the first time that GO Transit has really expanded into the western Greater Golden Horseshoe and I'm hoping that it's a harbinger of things to come," he said.