Trial GRT service to Baden and New Hamburg launches

A Grand River Transit bus is shown outside the No Frills grocery store in New Hamburg on Monday, April 25, 2016.

If Wilmot Township residents want a permanent bus connecting them to Waterloo and the rest of Grand River Transit’s network, they’ll have to do a fair bit of riding over the next year.

Monday marked the first day of service for Route 77, the trial service linking The Boardwalk in Waterloo with various destinations around Baden and New Hamburg.

“We’ve been looking to see how we can best serve some of the rural areas,” Blair Allen, GRT’s supervisor of transit development, said while aboard one of the first bus runs.

“We want to determine what the demand really is out in this area.”

Route 77 is being funded by the province, through a special grant from the Ministry of Transportation.

There’s enough funding to keep the buses running until the end of March 2017. After that, it will be up to regional council to find a way to keep the wheels going round and round – assuming there’s enough interest.

GRT is also using the trial as a way to test out routes with limited stops.

While many destinations, including the No Frills in New Hamburg and Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School, will always be stopped at, other stops will only be part of the route when arrangements are made in advance, over the phone.

The buses run Monday to Friday, generally during the morning and afternoon commute times.

“We’ve designed it to try and meet some of the times for people getting to work and school,” Allen said.

Among those riding Monday morning was Josh Goere, who lives in New Hamburg and attends Wilfrid Laurier University.

“I like it. It’s really convenient,” he said.

“Now I don’t have to ask my parents to come pick me up.”

GRT’s first expansion into the townships occurred in 2009, when Route 21 added Elmira to the grid.