page_title: Regional Municipality of Waterloo
section_title: Transportation
hierarchical_section_title: Regional Municipality of Waterloo / Services / Transportation
caption_attribution_description: English: The Conestoga Parkway meanders through Kitchener-Waterloo
context_page_description: The Regional Municipality of Waterloo, commonly known as Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo, is a regional municipality and metropolitan area located in Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, and the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. The region is 1,369 square kilometres in size and its seat of government is in Kitchener, the region's largest city.
  The region's population was 535,154 at the 2016 census. As of 2019, the estimated population is 617,870. In 2016, the Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo area was the third
  best place in Canada to find full-time employment based on data from StatsCan.
  The region was preceded by Waterloo County, Ontario, created in 1853 and dissolved in 1973. That entity consisted of five townships: Woolwich, Wellesley, Wilmot, Waterloo, and North Dumfries, including the cities and towns in each area.
context_section_description: Public transportation is provided by Grand River Transit, which is an amalgamation of the former Cambridge Transit and Kitchener Transit systems.
  In June 2011, regional council approved the plan for a light rail transit (LRT) line from Conestoga Mall in north Waterloo to Fairview Park Mall in south Kitchener, with rapid buses through to Cambridge. In Stage 1, the Ion rapid transit system runs between Waterloo and Kitchener, passing through the downtown/uptown areas. This phase opened in 2019.
  Until light rail transit is extended to the downtown Galt area of Cambridge from Kitchener in Stage 2, the rapid transit will use adapted iXpress buses between Fairview Park Mall and the Ainslie Street Transit Terminal. Other stops for this Ion bus are at Hespeler Road at the Delta, Can-Amera, Cambridge Centre, Pinebush, and Sportsworld. The rapid transit bus uses bus-only lanes at Pinebush, Munch and Coronation to minimize slowdowns at times of heavy traffic.
  Construction on the light rail system began in August 2014, and the Stage 1 service was expected to begin in late 2017. In 2016 however, the start date was changed to early 2018 because of delays in the manufacture and delivery of the vehicles by Bombardier Transportation. As of late March 2017 a single sample-only train car had arrived.
  In late February 2017, plans for the Stage 2 (Cambridge section) of the Ion rail service were still in the very early stage; public consultations were just getting started at the time.  Some routes and stops had been agreed upon in 2011, but the final plan will not be established until mid 2017. (At least one journalist has pointed out the similarity between this plan and the electric Grand River Railway of the early 1900s.)
  Waterloo Region was the home of the first carsharing organization in Ontario in 1998.  Community CarShare Cooperative (previously known as Grand River CarShare) provides access to vehicles on a self-serve, pay-per-use basis, and which are located in many neighbourhoods around the Region.  It is meant to complement other sustainable modes of transportation such as public transit, biking, carpooling, or act as a transition out of owning a vehicle.  Community CarShare has 27 vehicles stationed in the Region of Waterloo.
  The region also owns and operates the Region of Waterloo International Airport, near Breslau. The airport is the 20th busiest in Canada as of December 2010 and underwent a major expansion in 2003. GO Transit and Via Rail provide rail services to the region on the Kitchener line.
caption: The Conestoga Parkway in Kitchener-Waterloo
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