After over four years of being out of service, the Grand River Transit (GRT) Bus Route 91, also known as the “Late Night Loop,” is back on the roads. The route will operate from Thursday to Saturday and travel from Queen Station in downtown Kitchener to the University of Waterloo.
Students from the University of Waterloo Urban Planning program, the University of Waterloo Geography Students’ Association, members of the Waterloo New Democrat Party, and public transit advocates across the city were among those celebrating Route 91’s inaugural ride on the evening of Thursday, September 5th, 2024. Many of those in attendance were a part of the effort to reinstate the night bus.
“The city doesn’t just end at midnight, right,” Damian Mikhail, former president of the UWaterloo NDP club, said. “Oftentimes, I’ve walked alone, and I haven’t felt safe—and I’m a man.”
As the bus approached the Queen Station stop for the first time, the group cheered, took selfies with the bus, and high-fived the driver as they got on. Mikhail stressed the importance of a nighttime transit option for late-night shift workers.
These workers are often forced to walk home because taking an Uber on a regular basis would be unaffordable, especially for some of the most underpaid members of society. Having a night bus route offers these people an easy way to get home without having to shell out upwards of $30 for an Uber.
One such late-night shift worker, Gurmeet, got on the bus just past midnight as it made its inaugural ride through the city.
“I was planning to walk all the way home, which would take me an hour,” she said. “[I feel] more comfortable taking on more night shifts without worrying about how I’ll get home.”
The revival of the Late Night Loop was a result of the combined effort of a group of citizen activists who organized their collective interests and delegated before the Council in November 2023. Rodney Chan, UWaterloo planning student and public transit advocate, mentioned how the team drew up a strategy to make their speeches.
“We wanted to tell everyone’s personal story around why the night bus is important, but we also wanted to approach the proposal from multiple angles. We had someone talk about safety, another person talks about the economic benefits, and another person elaborate on the environmental benefits,” he said.
“There’s power in numbers. Not only does it show leaders that many people in their riding support convenient and public transit, but it also makes you yourself feel less helpless. It was fun and social. I made a lot of friends out of this, which was really nice,” he said.
Route 91 provides a safe and affordable way for residents to travel at night and helps cut transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. A 2019 issue paper by the Canadian Urban Transit Association showed that choosing a regular, diesel bus over a car can reduce greenhouse gases emissions per kilometre by 77 per cent. This number could be greater with the Region of Waterloo’s eleven new electric buses.
“This sort of cross-party lines, cross-discipline work all has the same goal: of moving the city forward—and that’s what really excited me,” Mikhail said.
Mikhail hopes this win can inspire more people to get involved with citizen activism.
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