Grand River Transit Sees Dip in Ridership, Says It's 'Mainly Due' to Drop in International Student Population

Grand River Transit sees dip in ridership, says it's 'mainly due' to drop in international student population

Grand River Transit, which is set to present its mid-year report findings to Waterloo regional council this week, saw a ridership drop of more than one million, with just 10.3 million, for the first six months of this year. That's a 9.6 per cent decline compared to the same period in 2025. The report attributes it to "another drop in the local student population" following changes to immigration caps.

GRT sees 10% ridership dip, over a million passengers lost in 2026: report

With well over half the year now in the rear-view mirror, Grand River Transit (GRT) is starting to take a peek at what trends have been seen so far in 2026, but a new report is showing that numbers for the local transit service have continued heading in the wrong direction. A new mid-year report is showing that overall ridership across buses and the ION has dropped by as much as 9.6 per cent throughout the first half of 2026 compared with the sa…