Improving transit reliability

Traffic lights and busy intersections can add time to a bus trip. We’re making changes to help buses move through these areas more easily and get customers to their destinations on time.

New transit priority movements will be introduced at several locations in Cambridge, Kitchener and Elmira later this year.

Seven new locations will have exemptions that would allow buses to use existing right-turn lanes to continue straight through intersections, helping them move past traffic and stay on route. These improvements will support 16 bus routes and 10,000 customer trips each day.

Locations were selected based on bus stop locations, available turning lanes and current and future bus service. These changes are part of our broader work to improve transit reliability and make trips faster and more consistent. Speed of service is a key priority in the GRT Business Plan, and transit priority measures help us make progress toward that goal.

We’ve also identified opportunities to improve transit reliability along the Fischer-Hallman corridor, which will be the focus of our 2027/2028 transit priority program.

There are several different ways to give buses priority on the road, helping them spend less time in traffic.

These measures include:

• Bus lane exemption: Allowing buses to travel straight through intersections from designated turn lane
• Queue jump lanes: Dedicated lanes that help buses move ahead of other vehicles
• Transit signals: Traffic signals that give buses more time or a head start at intersections

See what transit signal priority looks like at King and Victoria street in this video.

Here are the upcoming and current transit priority locations:

New right turn lane exemption locations

• Northbound Arthur St. at South Field Dr. in Elmira
• Southbound Fountain St. N. at 730 Fountain St. N in Cambridge
• Northbound Fountain St. N. at 1105 Fountain St North/Allendale Road in Cambridge
• Southbound Courtland Ave. at Stirling Ave. in Kitchener
• Northbound King St. E. at Frederick St. in Kitchener
• Frederick St. at Lancaster St. in Kitchener
• Westbound Frederick St. at Edna St. in Kitchener 

Current turn lane exemption locations

• Eastbound Sportsworld Dr. at Sportsworld Station Terminal in Kitchener
• Northbound Caroline St. S. at Erb St. W. in Waterloo
• Westbound Frederick St. at King St. in Kitchener
• Southbound 355 – 407 Hespeler Road in Cambridge
• Eastbound King St at Eagle St. in Cambridge
• Northbound Hespeler Rd. at Pinebush Rd. in Cambridge

Current queue jumps

• Southbound Shantz Hill Rd. at Fountain St. in Cambridge
• Northbound King St. at Fountain St. in Cambridge
• Northbound Hespeler Rd. at Pinebush Rd. in Cambridge
• Southbound Hespeler Rd. at Isherwood Ave. and Much Ave. in Cambridge
• Southbound Hespeler Rd. at Coronation Blvd. (Delta) in Cambridge
• Southbound King St. at Eagle St. in Cambridge
• Northbound Courtland Ave. at Hillmount St. in Kitchener
• Westbound Victoria St. at King St. in Kitchener
• Southbound King St. at Weber St. in Waterloo
• Westbound Frederick St. at King St. in Kitchener
• Northbound Wilson Ave. at Fairway Rd. in Kitchener
• Northbound Parkside Dr. at Northfield Dr. in Waterloo
• Northbound Hespeler Rd. at Avenue Rd. in Cambridge
• Northbound King St. at University Ave. in Waterloo