GRT decision to cut Route 2 leaves parts of Kitchener without access to transit

Community members are upset Grand River Transit is cancelling an underused bus route in Kitchener, Ont. People who live along Route 2 say it's a lifeline to get to school, work, shopping and medical appointments. 

"This is a big deal," said Meredith Blunt, who lives in the Forest Heights area and started a petition to save the bus line.

Route 2 connects people from the west part of the city near Forest Heights to east Kitchener, near Stanley Park.

"The new Visions Health Clinic in Greenbrook Plaza has at least 30,000 patients who access it. There's another family doctor in our plaza. There's the pharmacy, there's Giant Tiger for affordable groceries. There are people who use the number 2 [bus] consistently to travel for work, for family visits," Blunt said. 

Middle schoolers and high schoolers take Route 2 to school. It connects kids to specialized programs at Eastwood Collegiate, Cameron Heights Collegiate and Kitchener Collegiate Institute.

Among those students is Blunt's teenage daughter. She has autism and rides the bus to school. Changes to her routine are hard on her and the family.

"I wouldn't want my 15-year-old, or if I had a parent here, my 70-year-old parent, walking half a kilometre in February to get to a bus, to transfer to another bus — where they would just have taken one, Route 2, to get to their destination previously. I don't think that's an acceptable alternative."

The news took Chris Arnold by surprise. He owns Arnold Hearing Centre in the Forest Hill Centre plaza on Greenbrook.

"I see people coming off that bus all the time. A lot of our patients come off that bus," Arnold told CBC News. "I feel like by cutting that bus route you're going to cut off a good portion of people that come here."

The decision to cut Route 2 was made as part of the Region of Waterloo's budget process and there was no public consultation. 

That's the way decisions are made by the transit operator, the region's director of transit services, Doug Spooner, and regional Coun. Kari Williams told CBC News. 

"They internally decide on routes and changes, scheduling and things like that. And it's usually based on numbers and the budgetary concerns that they have," explained Williams. 

"They determine everything on their own and we vote on it for any major changes."

Compared to the rest of the Grand River Transit (GRT) network, Route 2 had low ridership. The route had one busy trip in each direction in the morning — with more than 15 people riding the bus — said Spooner, and one in the late afternoon; but the rest of the day was quiet.