Transit Changes to Routes and Schedules Have Begun

Keeping up with the changes to Guelph Transit can be tricky sometimes, but this is one of those occasions where we're dealing with a lot of information at once. The next few weeks are going to be hard on just about everyone taking the bus as routes and schedules are altered thanks to budget cuts, film shoots, road construction and the end of the school year.

As per council decision in December, Guelph Transit will be eliminating peak service from May 1 to September 3. It will return the Tuesday after Labour Day, which like Victoria Day, Canada Day, and the Civic Holiday in August will be a one-hour service day. Weekend service will remain unchanged.

Now that most of the students have finished their exams and are making their way home for the summer, certain student-centric express bus routes have been put on hiatus. Route 50 Stone Road Express, Route 56 Victoria Express, Route 57 Harvard Express, Route 58 Edinburgh Express are all out of service now until Thursday September 8.

Monday also saw the beginnings of some detours at the University Centre. For those taking Route 1A College Edinburgh or Route 1B College Edinburgh the stops at College Ave E at MacDonald St, East Ring Rd at Dundas Ln, and East Ring Rd at Arboretum Rd will be out of service until August 12. Meanwhile, for those taking Route 3B East Loop, and Route 5 / 5A Gordon, the buses will exit the University Centre Loop at Stone Rd E.

Major construction on Gordon St at Wellington Rd will cause some potential headaches for transit users starting on May 2. For those travelling south on Gordon St, stops at Gordon St at Water St, Gordon St at Forbes Ave, Gordon St at Dean Ave, Gordon St at Water St will all be unavailable for three weeks. For those taking Route 8 Stone Road Mall the stops at Water St at McCrae Blvd, Water St at Maple St, Maple St at Forest St, and Forest Street at Park will also be unavailable, although there will be temporary stops at Edinburgh at Water and Edinburgh at Municipal. Construction on Gordon St should be complete by May 20.

A more short term re-routing of several routes will take place early next week thanks to a TV show filming downtown. Route 2A West Loop, Route 2B West Loop, Route 3A East Loop, Route 3B East Loop, Route 12 General Hospital, Route 13 Victoria Road Recreation Centre will see their stops in St. Georges Square unavailable for three days on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Filming will take place around Wyndham Street from Douglas Street to Woolwich Street.

More immediately, Route 10 Imperial, Route 11 Willow West, and Route 20 Northwest Industrial will be diverted on Wednesday from 7 am to 6 pm due to construction on Paisley St between Southampton St and Harrison Ave east of Edinburgh. The stop at Paisley St at Yorkshire St N will be out of service.

For any other changes to Guelph Transit routes and schedules, follow them on Twitter, or go to Guelph Transit's website.