Last Tuesday during the debate on accepting the LRT consortium, Councillor (and retired mayor) Jane Brewer said the following in response to remarks that transit in Cambridge is not as good as in the rest of the Region.
She stated that in the 1990s,when Greg Durocher (present head of Cambridge Chamber of Commerce), Doug Craig (present Mayor) and herself were on a Cambridge city council that ran transit, the council always dipped into the funding for Cambridge transit to fund other city needs. I thank her for saying that. It was very brave to admit the truth.
I knew this because I know people who live in Cambridge. My best friend has said many times how much better transit is now in Cambridge since the Region has taken it over. The bus that went by near her house used to only go one way. To get downtown, she would have to go all the way around the the route,even though she could walk to downtown Galt in a half-hour.
Recently her son attended the University of Waterloo. In his first year, he was able to live at home. He took the bus that now went both ways to the Ainslie terminal and took the Ixpress to the University. He loves his Upass and will be sad to give it up when he graduates.
Here are the statistics from when the Region took over transit in Cambridge:
Route |
Day Type |
Effective Date |
Service Change Description |
Annual Service Hours Change |
Forecasted Annual Ridership Change |
57 Blair Road |
Weekday |
Apr 28 2014 |
From 30 minute to no midday service |
(1,230) |
(8,864) |
58 Elmwood |
Saturday |
May 3 2014 |
From 30 to 60 minute service |
(333) |
(2,518) |
61 Conestoga College |
Weekday |
Apr 28 2014 |
From 30 to 60 minute service during midday in spring only |
(195) |
(799) |
Weekday |
Jun 23 2014 |
From 30 to 60 minute service during midday in summer only |
(240) |
(877) |
|
62 Woodside |
Saturday |
May 3 2014 |
From 30 to 60 minute service |
(213) |
(1,439) |
66 Winston |
Weekday |
Apr 28 2014 |
Route discontinued and replaced with modified Route 71 Melran |
(2,680) |
(11,844) |
203 Maple Grove iXpress
|
Weekday |
Apr 28 2014 |
Introduce new route from the Cambridge Centre to Sportsworld via Franklin Boulevard and Maple Grove Road, operating every 30 minutes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily |
9,349 |
44,000 |
Weekday |
Sep 2 2014 |
Extend service during peak periods to Conestoga College Doon and Cambridge Campuses |
|||
NET TOTAL |
4,458 |
17,659 |