Charles St. Transit Terminal

Charles St.
Transit Terminal

Location	15 Charles Street West Kitchener, Ontario
Coordinates	43°26′58.5″N 80°29′32.2″W / 43.449583°N 80.492278°W / 43.449583; -80.492278Coordinates: 43°26′58.5″N 80°29′32.2″W / 43.449583°N 80.492278°W / 43.449583; -80.492278
Owned by	Region of Waterloo
Bus stands	25
Bus operators	Grand River Transit GO Transit Greyhound Canada Coach Canada Aboutown Transportation
Construction
Structure type	Ticket office, washrooms, waiting room, restaurant, covered platforms
Parking	32
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	GO Transit: KITB
History
Opened	1988 (City of Kitchener)

The Charles St. Transit Terminal at 15 Charles Street West in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada is the main bus station and downtown hub for local Grand River Transit (GRT) bus services for Kitchener and Waterloo. This terminal is also used by a number of intercity operators, including Greyhound, GO Transit, Coach Canada and Aboutown.

It is the largest public service facility run by GRT, with the Cambridge Ainslie Street terminal being the only other staffed bus station.

History

The building was completed in 1988 by the City of Kitchener, which operated Kitchener Transit, GRT's forerunner, at the time. It replaced a facility at Duke and Scott streets, which had become overcrowded. Ownership has since transferred to the Region of Waterloo, GRT's operator.

Facilities

The primary structure contains the ticket desk, plus washrooms and administrative space on the upper level; the lower level contains both a licensed restaurant and walk-in cafe, plus an ATM. Access between the floors is by either escalator or elevator. Access to the GRT platforms from the entry structure is by an enclosed, elevated walkway; each of the two paired platform groups have a 'pod' containing stairwells and an elevator, which also serve as enclosed, climate-controlled waiting space for passengers.

A small modular office handles Greyhound sales outdoors beside the intercity platform during service hours. All other intercity operators (including GO) are handled by the GRT desk indoors, on the upper level.

Future

The possibility of the Charles St. Terminal becoming redundant in the near future has been broached by a pair of Regional plans: first, on implementation of a rapid-transit backbone which would decentralize bus routes and require fewer platforms at a single downtown location; and second, the plan to build a multi-modal hub at King and Victoria streets to handle train, bus, and rapid-transit services (this would also likely make the railway station redundant). The Ion rapid transit service is scheduled to debut in 2017; the new station does not yet have a firm date for completion.

Bus services

Bus platforms

Grand River Transit

Grand River Transit routes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 200 iXpress; 20 bus emplacements on 4 platforms

Greyhound

Toronto Quicklink
Toronto / Guelph / London (local service)

GO Transit

Milton for GO Train connections (twice each weekday) and Square One Mississauga GO Bus

Coach Canada

Hamilton / St. Catharines / Niagara Falls (local service)

Aboutown NorthLink

NorthLink Route NL-2: Hanover / Walkerton / Harriston / Palmerston / Listowel / Linwood (local service)

Bus platforms at night

External links

Grand River Transit Terminals

Ainslie St. Cambridge Centre Charles St. Conestoga Mall Fairview Park Mall Forest Glen Hespeler Highland Hills

GO Transit

Lakeshore West line	Union Exhibition Mimico Long Branch Port Credit Clarkson Oakville Bronte Appleby Burlington Aldershot Hamilton James Street North ^† Confederation ^† St. Catharines ^‡ Niagara Falls ^‡

Milton line	Union Kipling Dixie Cooksville Erindale Streetsville Meadowvale Lisgar Milton

Kitchener line	Union Bloor Mount Dennis ^† Weston Etobicoke North Malton Bramalea Brampton Mount Pleasant Georgetown Acton Guelph Kitchener

Barrie line	Union Caledonia ^† York University (Downsview Park ^†) Rutherford Maple King City Aurora Newmarket East Gwillimbury Bradford Barrie South Allandale Waterfront

Richmond Hill line	Union Oriole Old Cummer Langstaff Richmond Hill Gormley ^† Bloomington ^†

Stouffville line	Union Danforth Kennedy Agincourt Milliken Unionville Centennial Markham Mount Joy Stouffville Lincolnville

Lakeshore East line	Union Danforth Scarborough Eglinton Guildwood Rouge Hill Pickering Ajax Whitby Oshawa Thornton's Corners ^† Oshawa Central ^† Darlington ^† Bowmanville ^†

Bus terminals	Ajax Barrie Bramalea Brampton Cornell ^† Erin Mills ^† Finch Kitchener McMaster Newmarket Oshawa Renforth Gateway ^† Richmond Hill Centre Scarborough Centre Square One Union Winston Churchill ^† Yorkdale York Mills

Miscellaneous	History Fares Park and ride Infrastructure Willowbrook Yard Bombardier BiLevel Coach MPI MP40PH-3C GO-ALRT Bus routes

See also	Metrolinx Presto card Union Pearson Express The Big Move

† - Future station ‡ - Limited excursion train service

Kitchener, Ontario

Buildings	Centre In The Square Fairview Park Mall Grand River Hospital Kitchener City Hall Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex Kitchener Public Library St. Mary's General Hospital

Transportation	Charles St. Transit Terminal Conestoga Parkway Grand River Transit Kitchener railway station

Organizations	Kitchener Rangers Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony

Museums	Doon Heritage Village Joseph Schneider Haus THEMUSEUM Woodside National Historic Site

List of municipalities in Ontario