Waterloo region sees record-breaking public transit ridership in 2023 after pandemic setbacks

A new report shows that 2023 was the busiest year ever for Grand River Transit, with almost twice the amount of riders compared to the previous year.

The report, which will be presented to the planning and works committee on Tuesday morning, shows last year's ridership of 26.4 million was up by 48.3 per cent from 2022. It was also a 20 per cent increase over the previous record year of 2019, when ridership hit 22 million.

Coun. Colleen James, also chair of the planning and works committee, said more people are choosing public transportation across Waterloo region in recent years.

"Clearly, there was less use during the pandemic and we have seen a bounce-back completely," James said. "We're seeing people becoming more dependent on it and recognizing that's a reliable service."

She said many of the riders are post-secondary students — as seen with the exceptional popularity of bus routes like the 110 College Express and 12 Westmount from University Avenue to Fairway Station — but there are also more workers and families getting on board.

The report says the ION LRT is the most popular choice among transit users.

The routes with the lowest ridership are the BusPlus routes, which is a fully accessible 19-seat bus with a lift and wheelchair spaces.

The report notes September was the busiest month for Grand River Transit.

"In September, there was a significant service improvement, particularly in Cambridge with roughly 18,000 hours of new annual service added," it says.

"As is normal with transit service changes, the ridership impact takes a while to be felt as people adapt to improved service and get an opportunity to try an improved journey. That ridership impact began to be felt during the last quarter of 2023 and will continue to see growth over the next year."

The growth in ridership has resulted in extra revenue for GRT. The budget for 2023 exceeded estimates by $8.5 million.