WATERLOO REGION — A new kind of bus will be plying the streets of Waterloo Region when Grand River Transit introduces articulated buses in two years.

The buses, sometimes called "bendy buses," are longer than the conventional 12-metre (40-foot) bus, and have an accordionlike hinge that allows the longer vehicle to get around corners. The 18.2-metre (60-foot) buses can accommodate 112 passengers, 62 of them in seats, compared to 80 passengers, 41 of them in seats, in standard buses. As well, riders can board at the rear of the bigger buses, which reduces the amount of time at a stop.

The buses will serve busy routes along University Avenue and Fischer-Hallman Road, where buses are often jam-packed during rush hours. About 4,700 riders take the University Avenue bus and 5,400 ride on Fischer-Hallman buses every weekday, said Neil Malcolm, Grand River Transit's assistant director of transit services.

Transit ridership has increased "dramatically" since the region took over responsibility for transit in 2000, Schmidt said, with the service now providing about 21 million rides a year.

"Because we are seeing ridership growth along those corridors, we require larger-capacity buses," he said.

The larger buses offer several advantages on busy routes, said Thomas Schmidt, the transportation commissioner at the Region of Waterloo. On very busy routes served by buses every 10 minutes, buses can bunch up with traffic delays, so that two buses will arrive at a stop at the same time.

"With the articulated bus, we're able to get the same capacity with less buses and keep that 10 minutes in between each bus," Schmidt said.

The region will buy three of the buses in 2021 and another three in each of the following two years. The articulated buses cost $850,000 to $900,000, compared to $550,000 to $600,000 for a standard bus.

Drivers will need a bit of additional training to handle the bigger buses. The longer buses will be stored at a new bus maintenance facility planned on Northfield Drive, which will have bigger bays and hoists capable of handling the longer buses.

Although the buses will be new to Waterloo Region, they are used in several Ontario municipalities, including Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Toronto and Mississauga.

"We're projecting an increase in ridership over the next number of years," due to the Ion LRT as well more people generally using transit, said regional Coun. Tom Galloway. "So we have to plan for that, and these buses are part of that."

cthompson@therecord.com

Twitter: @ThompsonRecord