Grand River Transit (GRT) is the public transport operator for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Grand River Transit has consistently purchased low floor, wheelchair-accessible buses, principally from Nova Bus, Orion, and New Flyer, and these now form the entirety of the standard fleet.

GRT also operates MobilityPLUS, which provides specialized transit for disabled patrons using minibuses equipped with wheelchair lifts.

Since September 1, 2007, all undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo have purchased a non-refundable four-month U-Pass as part of their tuition fees for less than a quarter of the equivalent adult monthly pass.

[citation needed] With the launch of Ion rapid transit in June 2019, GRT's bus services were substantially reorganized.

The greatest effect was in decentralizing the network in Kitchener–Waterloo by no longer using the Charles Street terminal as a service hub; the affected routes now connect with Ion trains at their stations, forming a centralized spine.

Public transit in the Grand River area began with private operators and slowly gave way to municipal run service.

On April 25, 2016, Grand River Transit began operating route 77 which connects The Boardwalk and the Wilmot Township (Petersburg, Baden and New Hamburg) during the AM and PM peak periods.

At first, rapid buses would run from the south end of Kitchener to the "downtown Galt" area of Cambridge but eventually, the LRT would be expanded to that city.

Construction on the light rail system, now named Ion, began in August 2014 and the Stage 1 service was expected to begin in 2017.

[8] The start date of service was postponed to early 2018, and then to December 2018, however, because of delays in the manufacture and delivery of the vehicles by Bombardier Transportation.

[14] Until LRT service arrives in Cambridge, GRT will offer rapid transit with adapted iXpress buses to Fairview Park Mall using bus-only lanes at Pinebush, Munch and Coronation to minimize slowdowns at times of heavy traffic.

[16][better source needed] Following Ion launch in Kitchener–Waterloo, GRT is continuing the remainder of the iXpress 200 service to the terminal at Fairview Park, renumbered as 302.

[17][18] The iXpress express bus service is operated by GRT consisting of six routes[19] along main corridors in Kitchener–Waterloo and Cambridge, serving major roads in all 3 cities.

The plan was eventually scaled down in order to put more emphasis on the LRT proposal with the Cambridge stubs largely eliminated, and the timeline was also spread out, with all routes expected to be implemented by 2018.

The third, route 202, runs in a crosstown fashion through Waterloo, primarily along University Avenue, between the Boardwalk shopping centre and Conestoga Mall.

The 204 iXpress runs from Ottawa and Lackner to the Boardwalk via Victoria Street, Highland Road, Ira Needles Boulevard and Downtown Kitchener.

Monthly passes or a stored fare balance are loaded on the EasyGo card; this can be done online, at customer service desks, or at ticket machines.

[26] The new EasyGO system on electronic fare cards was first made available on March 1, 2019, in anticipation of the Ion light rail launch.

GRT's fleet is a mix of 4th gen Nova Bus LFS series, New Flyer Industries (NFI) XD-40 busses, and brand new Vicinity Classic.

[30] Other significant transfer points include King Street/University Avenue, Holiday Inn Drive/Hespeler, Conestoga College-Doon Campus, and the Preston Towne Centre.