Hiking enthusiast completes two-year mission to walk every GRT route
Geoff Bell knows where every bus goes.
The 68-year-old Waterloo resident and former Region of Waterloo employee has walked every single Grand River Transit route, part of a long-distance hiking hobby shared with his wife Susie.
They started in 2021 after joining a Grand Valley Trails Association hiking group, which walked the ION light rail route. After the ION outing, Geoff says Susie decided to keep going through GRT’s bus routes.
“It was her idea,” said Geoff.
“We finished the hike, and thought it was interesting. She said, why stop at the ION? There are all these other routes! And the lightbulb went on.”
The couple have now walked the entirety of the GRT system: over 650 kilometres! Susie walked every Kitchener-Waterloo route in 2022, with Geoff following in 2023. After she walked every Cambridge route in 2023, Geoff kept up in 2024.
While he’s lived in the area for more than 40 years, Geoff said he was surprised to see the number of places he had never visited before.
His favourite walk was Route 16 Strasburg-Belmont, where he encountered a wide range of housing styles from across the years, unique church spires and a large cast-iron palm tree in someone’s backyard.
The journey has also given him a renewed appreciation for transit connectivity in the Region, and the frequency of ION service.
“I am a huge fan of the ION’s reliability,” said Geoff, who lives near the LRT line.
“I don’t even have to think about it. I just leave four minutes before the train is due to arrive, and it’s there. That’s the thing with our system, reliability, and it’s what we’re getting with the ION.”
Next up, Geoff plans to walk the perimeter of the Region of Waterloo.
About Grand River Transit:
Public transportation continues to grow and evolve as we work to deliver reliable, sustainable public transit for the people of Waterloo Region. GRT now serves more than 26 million riders and our buses cover more than 16 million kilometres per year. We also:
- maintain a fleet of 340 vehicles
- pick up passengers at 2,400 stops
- serve the community through 50 routes