The Sangamon Mass Transit District will begin its new Downtown Shuttle circulator service at 6:20am on Monday, January 15th. The new shuttle will serve the core downtown area between College Street and 9th Street, with frequent service to the Capitol Complex, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, BoS Center, Old State Capitol Plaza, Sangamon County Courthouse, and downtown hotels.
“Downtown service is a key component for an urban lifestyle that has been missing from Springfield,” added Steve Schoeffel, SMTD’s service planning & marketing specialist. “This new downtown shuttle is something we’ve wanted to do for a while but could not get started due to budget issues. We’re excited to get the service marketed, get it going, and see how it does.”
The shuttle service is planned to start at Bus Stop A on 5th Street, and run a circular route on both sides of the 3rd Street railroad underpass on Capitol Avenue every 20 minutes, with 10 minute service between 11:30am and 1:30pm. The hours gained from new efficiencies in operations will be used for the service. So there is no added cost to SMTD.
“Our Operations Department has been implementing policies to increase efficiency, and the labor hours saved are being used for this new weekday downtown shuttle,” said Melissa Ashford, SMTD’s superintendent of transportation. “After some really tough years of having to streamline and make reductions, we’re excited to be able to put some long-anticipated new service out there for the community.”
Passengers should look for special Downtown Shuttle Bus Stop Signs, which should be posted by the time the service begins. The new signs are designed to be clearly different from the standard Bus Stop signs the public is accustomed to, because many of the stops are not regular bus stops and will only be serviced by the Downtown Shuttle. Bus stops with both the existing bus stop signs AND a Downtown Shuttle bus stop sign will be served by both.
