Editing Kitchener, Ontario (section)

====Early history====
{{See also|Kitchener and Waterloo Street Railway|Kitchener Public Utilities Commission}}

[[File:Berlin & Waterloo Street Railway Canadian Block photo.jpg|thumb|The [[Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway]], seen here on King Street in downtown Kitchener, was the earliest documented public transport in the city.<ref name=kitchener-transit-history />]]

The earliest recorded urban public transport in Kitchener was a [[horsecar|horse-drawn streetcar]] service along King Street, the [[Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway]], which began operating in 1888.<ref name=elso-kwsr /><ref name=kitchener-transit-history /> The system was [[electrification|electrified]] in 1895. The [[Preston and Berlin Street Railway]], an [[interurban]] service connecting Kitchener to [[Preston, Ontario|Preston]] (now a part of Cambridge), began operation in 1904. It used a stretch of Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway tracks to access downtown Kitchener.<ref name=pb-trainweb>{{cite web |url=http://www.trainweb.org/elso/pb.htm |title=Preston & Berlin Street Railway |first=William E. |last=Miller |date=19 July 2004 |website=Electric Lines in Southern Ontario |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> In 1906, the Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway was [[municipalization|municipalized]] and came under the management of the Berlin Light and Power Commission, which was renamed the Berlin Public Utilities Commission. It was later renamed the Kitchener and Waterloo Street Railway following the city's official name change, with the commission also being renamed to the [[Kitchener Public Utilities Commission]] (PUC).<ref name=kitchener-transit-history />

In 1923, the successor of the Preston and Berlin Street Railway, the [[Grand River Railway]], built a new [[main line (railway)|mainline]] which bypassed downtown Kitchener. Its new transfer point to the municipal streetcar system was [[Kitchener Junction station]] at what was then the south end of the city, which was also the site of the PUC's [[car barn|streetcar depot]]. Starting in 1939, buses began being used for crosstown bus services which intersected with the streetcar line.<ref name=kitchener-transit-history /> In 1947, the PUC replaced the street railway system with a [[trolleybus]] system.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.therecord.com/life/local-history/2021/01/22/flash-from-the-past-faster-smoother-quieter-trolleys-take-over-king-street.html |title=Flash From the Past: Faster, smoother, quieter trolleys take over King Street |first=rych |last=mills<!-- lowercase is from original --> |date=22 January 2021 |work=Waterloo Region Record |access-date=24 January 2021 |quote=From 1888 to 1947, Berlin/Kitchener and Waterloo had been connected by streetcars plying King Street. Initially powered by horses — but after 1895 by electricity via a single pole connecting with an overhead wire.}}</ref> The streetcar rails were removed from King Street in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.therecord.com/news-story/5529608-century-old-streetcar-line-found-under-lrt-construction/ |title=Century-old streetcar line found under LRT construction |newspaper=[[Waterloo Region Record]] |first=Kevin |last=Swayze |date=27 March 2015 |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> In 1973, local bus services were transferred from the PUC to a newly created entity, [[Kitchener Transit]]. Shortly after this, trolleybus service was discontinued and the system was switched entirely to diesel buses. A new [[bus garage]], located in the area of the former village of [[Strasburg, Ontario|Strasburg]], was opened in the mid-1970s.<ref name=kitchener-transit-history>{{cite book |author=City of Kitchener Department of Transportation Services |title=A History of Kitchener Transit |date=1988 |id=KPL 388.413220971345 Histo 1988}}</ref> The new bus system was reorganized around a downtown bus terminal which was located on Duke Street. This was later replaced in 1988 by the [[Charles Street Terminal]],<ref name=flash-fear>{{cite news |url=https://www.guelphmercury.com/living-story/4346122-flash-from-the-past-bullas-bros-site-now-holds-kitchener-bus-terminal/ |newspaper=The [[Guelph Mercury]] |title=Flash from the Past: Bullas Bros. site now holds Kitchener bus terminal |first=Jon |last=Fear |date=31 January 2014 |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> which itself was closed in 2019 following the launch of Ion light rail service.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weidner |first1=Johanna |title=COVID-19 testing site moving to old bus terminal in Kitchener for winter |url=https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2020/11/12/covid-19-testing-site-moving-to-old-bus-terminal-in-kitchener-for-winter.html |access-date=13 November 2020 |publisher=Waterloo Region Record |date=November 12, 2020}}</ref>