Metro Transit boosts service on busy routes during holiday shopping season

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Kalamazoo Metro Transit is temporarily increasing bus service on three of its busiest routes to accommodate increased holiday shopping traffic.

Editor’s Note: This series focuses on the many impacts of Kalamazoo County public transportation. It was made possible by support from Kalamazoo Metro Transit.

KALAMAZOO, MI — If you worry about holiday shopping traffic and navigating steep hills when roads turn icy, you’re not alone.

“If it’s four, five, or six o’clock and a weather front comes through in the late afternoon, that’s when we start to see problems,” said Sean McBride, executive director of Metro Transit. “Westnedge Hill, Alamo Hill, West Main Street Hill — those are the spots where cars struggle to get up.”

When traffic stalls, buses can lose momentum on icy inclines, something Metro Transit works hard to avoid.

“That’s not something you want to do,” McBride said. “It slows routes down and causes people to wait longer for their bus.”

With those challenges in mind — and anticipating increased demand during the holiday shopping season — Metro Transit is adding service to three of its 27 routes from Dec. 15 through Dec. 28. Additional buses will depart the Kalamazoo Transportation Center downtown at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour (for example, 10:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.), operating between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The enhanced routes include:

Route 1 — Westnedge Avenue
Major stops include Midtown Fresh, the Vine Neighborhood, Southland Mall, the Meijer superstore, and Crossroads Mall.

Route 9 — Gull Road
Major stops include Beacon Medical Center (formerly Borgess Medical Center), New Horizon Village, Nazareth Center Complex, the Meijer superstore on Gull Road, Big Bend Apartments, Comstock Compass High School, Comstock Village Apartments, and the Wal-Mart on Gull Road.

Route 14 — West Main Street
Major stops include Maple Hill Mall, the Meijer superstore on South Westnedge Avenue, Westside Medical Center, Carriage Green Apartments, The Landing Apartments, Oshtemo Township Hall and Library, and the Wal-Mart on West Main Street.

“These routes serve major retail areas and have some of our highest ridership,” McBride said. “People are going to work, and people are going shopping. The holidays increase the need for transportation, and increasing service to match that demand keeps our community moving.”

Each of the three routes averages 20 to 25 passenger rides per hour. With the additional buses, riders will see service every 30 minutes instead of hourly on some routes.

“We recognize that traffic and weather can cause delays, and we want to keep the community moving as safely and efficiently as possible,” said Keshia Woodson-Sow, Metro Transit’s operations director. “This also gives more people an opportunity to explore what Metro can do.”

Kalamazoo’s public transit system is on track to provide more than two million passenger rides through its buses and alternative services such as Metro Link and Metro Share.

Metro Transit is on track to provide 2 million passenger rides this year through its Metro Bus system, as well as Metro Link, an on-demand app-based service using six-passenger vans; Metro Connect, a countywide service using nine-passenger vans; and Metro Share, which provides shared vans to nonprofit organizations and government agencies.

More information is available HERE.

“We take great pride in providing consistent service through all weather conditions,” McBride said.