ACTR Sets Date To Launch Expanded Shuttle Bus Service

Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR) will launch its much anticipated shuttle bus system expansion beginning with the Saturday Burlington LINK on Saturday, March 6, 2010. Starting Monday, March 8, 2010, the Middlebury Shuttle Bus and the Tri-Town Shuttle Bus will begin their new schedules.

In November and December ACTR held public meetings to review the expansion details and is in the process of integrating comments to best serve existing and new riders. The Shuttle Bus Expansion will put 40% more bus service on the road around the county, which allows ACTR to strengthen and improve its existing schedule.

“We received very helpful feedback during our public comment period on the three proposals. As a result, we are tweaking those proposals and will launch what we hope to be an effective and efficient system-wide expansion,” Jim Moulton, ACTR Executive Director, said.

The expansions include the following expansions:

􏰀 The Tri-Town Shuttle Bus service will be split to create two connected routes: the Tri-Town Vergennes and Tri-Town Bristol buses. Service frequency will improve from every two hours to every hour with five morning runs and five afternoon runs Monday through Friday. For the first time, Vergennes will have a direct connection to Middlebury. The two routes will connect at the new Park & Ride in New Haven Center to exchange passengers traveling between Bristol and Vergennes.

􏰀 The Middlebury Shuttle Bus will be reconfigured to include 5 connected loops – 4 running in the north and west of town that connect to a 5th loop along Route 7 South. Service on the Route 7 South loop will run every 30 minutes all day long from 6:30 am to 7 pm. The other 4 loops will run every 30 minutes during peak hours and every 60 minutes during non-peak hours. Like all ACTR bus routes, this route will connect at Merchant’s Row in Middlebury to allow for transfers. The Saturday service will remain the same.

􏰀 Service on the Saturday Burlington Link will change from two round trips to four round trips each Saturday. The route will stay the same but the new schedule will allow for early evening service to and from Burlington.

ACTR was notified last October that it was awarded grant funds from the State of Vermont to expand its shuttle bus service. A PowerPoint presentation with details of the proposed expansions, including draft maps and schedules, is available at www.actr-vt.org.

Once in place, ACTR will continue to closely monitor its services to ensure the expansions are as effective as possible. Future system tweaks may also occur based on actual route performance and additional community feedback. ACTR will publish new bus schedule brochures as well as new signage at all bus stops. Details of the new schedule will also be available on the ACTR website as well as in this paper.

For more information, contact ACTR at 388-1946.