Greyhound Terminal for Cambridge

[TC60102N]

The other day in the Cambridge Times it said that Cambridge is finnally getting a Greyhound Bus Station with the main connections being Toronto and York Region and possible GO Bus service ( Now of course this is not the first time we have heard about GO coming here ) It did not say where they plan on building this terminal but I would imagine it will eliminate the need for Greyhound/Coach Canada/Cherrey etc etc to be stopping at the Charles & Ainslie Street for all trips. It will sure be a HUGE improvment from Cambridges current Greyhound stop, which is a bus shelter with "Greyhound Canada" on the side ! and having to buy tickets at that smoke shop.

Any thoughts ?

[Greater Golden Horseshoe Transit]

The other day in the Cambridge Times it said that Cambridge is finnally getting a Greyhound Bus Station with the main connections being Toronto and York Region and possible GO Bus service ( Now of course this is not the first time we have heard about GO coming here ) It did not say where they plan on building this terminal but I would imagine it will eliminate the need for Greyhound/Coach Canada/Cherrey etc etc to be stopping at the Charles & Ainslie Street for all trips. It will sure be a HUGE improvment from Cambridges current Greyhound stop, which is a bus shelter with "Greyhound Canada" on the side ! and having to buy tickets at that smoke shop.

Any thoughts ?

I haven't seen the Cambridge Times article, but here's The Record article (below)...

I'm thinking that these won't be major terminals like Charles Street, and it would be unfortunate if any existing bus trips will will stops coming out of the Charles Street Terminal (CST), considering that the passengers coming through CST are mostly transit users and probably many don't have cars and would now have to travel across the entire city to access Greyhound. The Record article suggests these new bus stops will be park and ride lots with direct Greyhound bus service to them. Identified corridors are more or less along the 400 series Highway network from K-W/Cambridge, St. Catharines, Barrie and Peterborough.

WATERLOO REGION (Oct 7, 2006)

Greyhound Canada wants to build park-and-ride bus terminals near Highway 401 in Cambridge and Kitchener to serve what it believes is growing local demand for commuter service to Toronto.

It's a long-overdue service that will prove there's a need for GO Transit service expansion to the area, says Cambridge MP Gary Goodyear.

"I think this program is a very, very important step to provide some of the proof to the various levels of government that there is a huge commuter group that uses that 401 every day," Goodyear said.

"As ridership grows, it's going to add fuel to help me in my ability to sell things like GO train and light rail transit, which are more long-term solutions that our area has to get moving on."

Greyhound officials will present the idea to Cambridge city council Tuesday night.

For now, all the intercity bus company is asking for is support for the park-and-ride concept, he said.

Eventually, however, the bus company hopes cities will become a partner by owning parking lots needed around new bus terminals.

Goodyear said he's been working with government and Greyhound officials for six months to find federal money to buy land for the new terminals. He proposes Ottawa give money to municipalities to buy land near expressways, then lease it to Greyhound.

Goodyear hopes to be at council when Greyhound makes its presentation at city hall, 46 Dickson St. The public is invited to the 7 p.m. meeting.

Greyhound wants to set up park-and-ride terminals along 400-series highways in Barrie, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Cambridge and Kitchener, said Stuart Kendrick, vice-president of Canadian passenger services.

Both he and Goodyear hope to have federal funding approved by early in the new year. Goodyear understands park-and-ride operations cost $5 million to $12 million to start from scratch.

"If everything lined up, we'd love to see some groundbreaking early in the new year with opening in summer, September of '07," Kendrick said.

Today, 20 Greyhound buses a day serve Cambridge, stopping outside the Forum roller rink on Langs Drive at Hespeler Road. All but one trip starts in Kitchener, stops in Cambridge then heads to Toronto. The other starts in Cambridge.

"We've got a strong core of 150 to 175 commuters (a day) out of Cambridge alone," Kendrick said.

"We think there's room to grow. We think if we had more amenities and parking for Cambridge and Kitchener that people would come to it."

Greyhound is ready to provide a direct bus link to the Milton GO rail station, long before suggested GO bus service arrives in Cambridge, Kendrick said. "Our point has been, and continues to be, we're there, we do it, why don't we partner (with GO) and feed the rail head."

Provincial officials haven't talked with Greyhound about linking with GO train service, said Transportation Ministry spokesperson Bob Nichols.

He's not aware of any talks about helping to build Greyhound park-and-ride bus terminals. Even so, the province supports any public or private effort to encourage people to use public transit, he said. There are also opportunities for Greyhound and Waterloo Region's Grand River Transit service to align some services in Kitchener and Cambridge.

Greyhound has talked with Grand River Transit about pulling out of the Kitchener terminal on Charles Street, Kendrick said. Grand River Transit buses would link to a new Kitchener park-and-ride station near the 401.

And in Cambridge, Grand River Transit officials are already looking at improving two transit transfer hubs: at Cambridge Centre on Hespeler Road south of the 401 and on Holiday Inn Drive at Groh Avenue.

kswayze@therecord.com

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And who knows in the future they will expand i to go all the way to Waterloo. To Conestalga Mall to replace the iExpress

[TC60102N]

And who knows in the future they will expand i to go all the way to Waterloo. To Conestalga Mall to replace the iExpress

I don't know WHAT your talking about, but the only thing that will be replacing the iXpress is the Rapid Transit System going in place in the future, My friends mom works with the planning commitee for that Rapid Transit and she says they would like to get building between 3-6 years from now.

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What I was trying to say that, because of conctruction close to Anslie St. Terminal the iExpress has always been late in the area that i was working in. So i would have to get on another bus like the 21. But other than that the iExpress is pretty fast. Unless of corse they Replace it with a streetcar route. and then exend it all the way to the airport.

[PrevostH3-45]

What I was trying to say that, because of conctruction close to Anslie St. Terminal the iExpress has always been late in the area that i was working in. So i would have to get on another bus like the 21. But other than that the iExpress is pretty fast. Unless of corse they Replace it with a streetcar route. and then exend it all the way to the airport.

Are you sure you know what you're talking about?

The construction was along Hespeler Rd., quite a distance from the Ainslie St. Terminal.

I don't see Grand River Transit running streetcar operations anytime soon, if ever.

As for Route 21, it serves the North end of Waterloo (Conestoga Mall) and St. Jacobs, so how would this bus help you if you're in Cambridge near the Ainslie St. Terminal?

Buses running to the airport, I'm sure are quite a way off. Considering we only get 3 times daily Mesaba service to Detroit, as well as some corporate jets to various destinations. With the very likely possibility of Mesaba going bankrupt in the near future, this would suspend all operations out of Waterloo Intl. and the airport would be empty, as would buses serving the airport. Until the Region of Waterloo can secure a few airlines at CYKF, it probably won't happen. I know they've been hounding Air Canada to start operations out of there, but so far Air Canada has other destinations on their agenda.

That being said, maybe a winter service would be possible with the Skyservice charters flying in and out.