Don Hull, Hamilton’s director of transit, said the change is being made as a direct result of requests from Waterdown residents who told HSR officials that the current schedule doesn’t run late enough to ensure that commuters from the GO train will have bus service back to Waterdown at the end of their business day.

Peak time, weekday service was inaugurated in Waterdown on September 2.

Asked about ridership on the new route, Hull said there are no statistics available at this time because starter services are always given one to two years to build up passenger numbers before decisions are made to expand or eliminate the service.

“The service has to have time to mature,” he said. “Traditionally, new routes start slowly.”

But the Waterdown route will have its ridership results sooner than expected as the HSR is currently undergoing an operational review focusing on the entire service’s adherence to schedules and reliability. Ridership counts are part of the review and will be conducted on all routes this fall.

Hull estimated the results of the counts will be made public next spring.

Once a new route is offered, it generally isn’t long before requests for expanding the service come forward, the transit director said. But a route performance evaluation and a report back to city council is required before a case can be made to justify expansion of a route.

The Waterdown route is a one-way loop through town, beginning and ending at the Aldershot GO Station. Service is provided at 30-minute intervals.

Additional information can be obtained online at www.hamilton.ca/hsr or by calling 905-527-4441. Timetables and route maps for the Waterdown route are available at the Flamborough Municipal Service Centre, Langford’s IDA and the Aldershot GO Station.