MO: City of Joplin seeks regional input on transit survey

After relaunching the Sunshine Lamp Trolley, the city of Joplin is turning its attention to examining the possibility of developing a regional transit system.

As part of that effort, the city wants to collect information and will launch a Joplin regional transit study. It will identify needs for regional transportation, options for transit expansion, and other communities that might participate.

The study is funded by a $400,000 grant the city received in 2023 from the Federal Transportation Administration to work on establishing a regional transit authority.

A transit expansion could continue to provide affordable access to jobs, education, health care and public services across the region.

“Staff are working with transit riders, area leaders, community organizations, the business community, and other stakeholders to discover what’s next for transit in the Joplin region,” said Tony Robyn, Joplin’s assistant city manager. “We are looking for what’s possible and long-term solutions for public transportation within our region, while identifying sustainable governing structures of a metropolitan system, such as a transit authority.”

Developing a regional system will be a collaborative effort among Joplin area communities, officials say. One of the first steps is to gather data from residents about their needs and work with community leaders in the area to help identify needed locations for public transit service.

“We want to hear from everyone as we begin the discussions to develop potential solutions for a long-term structure that is more resilient, sustainable and meets the needs of the whole area. The goal is to improve mobility across the metro region,” Robyn said.

To take the survey, go to https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8269836/Joplin RegionalTransitStudy.

The Sunshine Lamp Trolley service provides 67 stops on three looped routes around the city at a cost of $2 per ride. The service was shut down in November 2022 because the city could not keep enough licensed commercial drivers to staff the buses.

Another city-run public transit system, MAPS, continued to provide rides during that time because it used smaller buses or vans to transport passengers and did not require the more extensive commercial driver’s licenses needed to operate larger trolley buses.

The difference to users is that MAPS requires an advance appointment for a ride rather than same-day service on the trolley buses.

Joplin restarted trolley service Feb. 3 after obtaining smaller buses so that commercial driver’s licenses weren’t needed for drivers.

When the trolley service restarted this year, it used the same three routes — red, blue and green — that were used earlier. Buses run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the last route pickups at 5 p.m.

City officials said then that the routes will be analyzed over time to determine if changes are needed in the routes or location of stops.

The red and blue routes start and finish at 123 S. Main St. but can be boarded at designated stops. The green route starts at 19th and Main streets. The red route makes stops that sweep the west side of town, the blue serves east and northeast Joplin, and the green route makes stops on the south side of the city.

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