MITS public hearings result in more Riverside route trips

MITS is augmenting two of it routes to save money this summer.

The board of directors held two public hearings, Wednesday and Thursday, to get community input on two new proposals.

As a result of the meetings, an additional two trips have been added to the Riverside Avenue route at 6:15 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. at the request of community members who wished to have trips back from work.

MITS will shorten its routes because of economic reasons.

Mary Gaston, assistant manager of MITS, said she projected a $500,000 to $800,000 cut in funding in 2009 and nearly a $1.3 million cut for 2010.

Gaston said the cuts should not be too inconvenient because ridership drops significantly during the summer months.

From May 11 to Aug. 7, MITS will shorten its No. 16 Wal-Mart route. The route will terminate at the store instead of going over to Windermere Apartments and will run on a 30-minute frequency during the day instead of the 15-minute frequency during the school year.

To cover the area not being served by the Wal-Mart route, the Riverside Avenue route will run its Saturday route. This route travels through Morrison Road and Bethel Avenue on Monday through Friday.

MITS will also cut four trips from the Muncie Mall route: 7 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

The cuts will save MITS $72,800, Gaston said.

"Muncie Transit system is in the same situation that most governmental units in Central Indiana are in," Gaston said. "Because of the changes in property tax legislation we anticipate receiving significantly less local tax support in 2009 than we have previously."

Sean Armie contributed to this report.


More from The Daily




Sponsored Stories



Loading Recent Classifieds...