Metrolinx cutting five GO bus routes, reducing service on two others

Thestar.com
June 6, 2019
Ilya Banares

Several GO bus routes will be cut or have service reduced “due to low demand,” Metrolinx has announced.

The provincial transit agency announced that four routes --20 (Milton/Oakville), 24 (Cambridge/Milton), 38 and 38A (Bolton/Malton) --will have their service discontinued as of June 29. Route 60 (Canada’s Wonderland) will not return for the 2019 season.

Two more routes will have buses operate on a lighter schedule. Route 81 (Beaverton/Port Perry/Whitby) will only have two southbound and two northbound trips every day. Route 90 (Lakeshore East) will have weekday, midday and evening service reduced from every half-hour to hourly. Weekend service will be reduced from every half-hour to hourly.

“We are always monitoring our services to ensure we’re using our resources when and where they’re needed most,” Metrolinx said on its website. “We’re discontinuing and reducing service on some GO bus routes due to low demand.”

The agency added, “We value all of our customers, and we don’t make these decisions lightly. In these cases, there is not enough demand to justify running the services.”

Jessica Bell, NDP transit critic and MPP for University-Rosedale, criticized the cuts in a statement released Wednesday.

“These cuts come as a devastating blow for transit riders who rely on these bus services,” Bell said. “This is going to make things so much worse for transit riders, who are already dealing with delays and overcrowding, as (Premier) Doug Ford derails planned improvements.”

Bell also said the cutbacks “come after this year’s estimates revealed that the Ford Conservatives have slashed funding for Metrolinx by $184 million.”