MUSKEGON, MI – Significant changes to Muskegon’s urban bus system, including the elimination of Saturday and evening service, take effect Monday.
The Muskegon Area Transit System, or MATS, is nearly halving the number of routes it traditionally has operated and implementing a new on-demand shared ride service.
The changes follow a comprehensive route study, which found the bus system was operating on an “unsustainable funding situation,” and public input sessions. The changes include elimination of service to Montague/Whitehall and the western end of the city of Muskegon, including the Bluffton neighborhood near Lake Michigan.
“We’re focusing on the corridors and time of day that have the most ridership,” said Jim Koens, manager of MATS.
MATS had been operating 12 fixed routes six days a week. However, that dropped to six routes on March 23 due to the coronavirus COVID-19.
Beginning Sept. 28, the bus system will operate seven fixed routes using eight buses between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Previously, routes operated as early as 5:30 a.m. and as late as10:40 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9:30 a.m. to 5:40 p.m. Saturdays.
One-way fares are $1.25 or 60 cents for senior citizens and individuals with disabilities. However, passengers can ride the new routes for free until November, Koens said.
The new routes on key corridors are out-and-back rather than loops that don’t take as long and require fewer transfers.
The 2019 route study was undertaken to find ways to cut expenses after MATS ended fiscal year 2019 with a $400,000 deficit. The study authors recommended the reduced hours and routes as a way to decrease costs and optimize ridership, as well as an on-demand “microtransit” service.
There will be no staff layoffs as the result of the route changes, with reductions achieved through attrition and job transfers, Koens said.
There also are changes to the GoBus service that the study found had denied 30 percent of ride requests in 2018 due to “financial constraints.” The on-demand GoBus service had served people with disabilities and those over age 65.
Beginning Monday, it will serve only those with verified disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act with rides within 3/4 mile from the fixed routes between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
Filling some transportation gaps will be an on-demand service open to anyone called Reserve-A-Ride that will provide curb-to-curb shared rides for “essential travel.”
The cost for Reserve-A-Ride is $4 for a one-way trip and $2 for those ages 65 and older or with a disability. It will operate from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays in an area bounded by Sheridan Drive on the east, Lake Michigan on the west, Muskegon Lake on the north and Mona Lake on the south. Rides also will be available to the Muskegon County Airport and the Veteran’s Administration Clinic on Hakes Drive.
At this point, Reserve-A-Ride is scheduled to continue until March 31, 2021, when a more “far-reaching” on-demand micro-transit service will take its place, Koens said.
“We’re hoping we can develop an Uber-like service that is sponsored and operated by the transit system," Koens said.
The boundaries of that service will depend on local governments and their willingness to help pay for micro-transit, he said.
The changes in MATS' routes are necessary to confront “a number of daunting challenges,” according to the route study, which was conducted by Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning. Among those was insufficient match funding from local municipalities, including those served by the GoBus that weren’t paying any match funding, according to the study.
Koens said that while the new routes will be easier to understand and will eliminate the need for multiple transfers, he encouraged those seeking help to review the MATS website, www.matsbus.com, or to call MATS at (231) 724-6420 for assistance.
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Another expansion coming to The Deck restaurant at Muskegon’s beach
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