Weekend GO buses between Kitchener and Brampton are so full, they're leaving people behind

There's a problem with GO Transit service between Waterloo region and a station that offers hourly train trips into Toronto on the weekends: It's too popular.

At certain times, there are so many people who want to get on the bus either to or from the Bramalea station in Brampton or stops in between, some are being left behind.

That happened to Justin Fan after he had gone to Toronto and he wanted to get back to the University of Waterloo.

"I had to definitely hold back another hour of my trip, which is very terrible considering it's already a longer trip than driving," Fan said while sitting in the Student Life Centre on campus. "Waiting an extra hour in the station is not that great."

Fan's friend David Teresi hasn't had to miss a bus, but on a recent trip, he was forced to stand in the aisle.

"I had gotten sort of carried away looking for a water fountain and by the time I got to the line, I ended up at the back of the line," he said.

"I was able to ride the bus but I was standing. It was, like, an hour and a half long bus ride so, obviously not the type of bus ride you want to stand the entire time on."

'So many people'

Metrolinx, the agency that oversees GO Transit, made changes to the way people can get between Waterloo region and Toronto on weekends in April.

There are now hourly trains on the Kitchener line, although the trains do not come all the way to Kitchener. Instead, the train stops in Brampton and people need to take the bus to and from Waterloo region.

Fan and Teresi said the bus is very popular, particularly with students, in the mornings and evenings on weekends.

Teresi said he lives across the street from the first bus stop, so he's able to get to it before too many people are in line. But, as he noted during a trip on the last weekend in May, the bus quickly fills up.

"There were so many people trying to get on the bus, the bus was basically full by the time we left Laurier," he said. "We got to the Kitchener GO station and there were 30 or 40 people waiting there. Only one of them could get on. So there was basically a whole extra bus full of people that we left behind."

He said it causes a lot of confusion when that happens and people look very disappointed when they can't get on the bus. 

Metrolinx aware of high demand

For its part, Metrolinx says it monitors its schedules and ridership.

"We are aware of high demand on this route and are working to address it," Metrolinx said in an emailed statement to CBC News.

"In the interim, all Route 30 trips are scheduled to use our double-decker GO buses to maximize capacity and we will do our best to provide extra buses on the route when available."

Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris says he's aware of the issue, although he hasn't heard many complaints at his office.

"I am a strong supporter of increased GO Transit to and from our region and will continue to advocate for better service, whether it be with the aforementioned buses, but more importantly, at least in my mind, true two-way, all-day train service along the Kitchener line," Harris said in an email.

He said the provincial government has made "great strides" in fostering a good relationship with CN, with which GO Transit has to share tracks at some points along the Kitchener line, and is working to make track improvements to increase train frequence.

"I will certainly look into this issue a little deeper and see what can be done from my end," he said.

Riders could lose confidence in service

Metrolinx could do more to meet the needs of riders and is at risk of alienating people if they don't, warns University of Waterloo planning professor Brian Doucet.

"It doesn't give people confidence," he said.

Doucet, who is also the Canada Research Chair in urban change and social inclusion and has researched transit systems in Waterloo region, Toronto and around the world, says when the April service started, he tried it out. He went into Toronto, saw friends, visited the art gallery and came home.

"The buses were busy. But even that day I heard from people on Twitter and so on, like, there were people being left behind," he said.

"If I'm taking my kids, we're going as a family. I wouldn't risk being stranded at Bramalea," he added.

"It's that disconnect between, the schedule looks great on paper, it looks great, but the reality is if you think you might get stranded, you take it only if you really have no other choice. It's not going to be something that's going to get people to leave their cars in Kitchener-Waterloo and take transit all the way in."

Interim changes

Two-way, all-day GO trains between Kitchener and Toronto aren't expected until 2025 at the earliest.

Metrolinx has said a number of improvements are needed along the line, including building separate tracks in some areas.

In the meantime, Doucet says there are a few things Metrolinx could do to improve GO Transit service for people in Waterloo region.

"With the track infrastructure, you could probably run a train every three hours out to Kitchener, which is not what it will eventually be, not ideal, but it's better than what we have now," he said.

The agency could also add extra buses to cover the busiest times.

"If the one bus that's connecting with the train, if it's full, another bus is there ready to pull up and pick up those remaining passengers and take them. So essentially you've got two buses that would leave at the same time, but they would accommodate everyone that wants to get back," he said.

"This wouldn't be a new approach. They've done this on other routes in other times in their history, but they haven't yet maybe understood the scale of the problem. This is a new service, so they're still trying to figure things out."