AATA extends Chelsea commuter bus service

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

The Chelsea commuter bus is about to enter its second year of life and with some significant changes to help improve ridership.

The commuter bus runs between Chelsea's Arctic Coliseum and downtown Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan four times a day. The idea is to provide a cost-effective and sustainable form of transportation for downtown and university workers who lives outside of the city. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority received a $195,000 federal grant for the service in 2008 for a two-year pilot.

AATA plans to makes some significant changes this year to help beef up ridership levels that have been below expectations. Among those are switching to AATA buses (they had been using Indian Trail buses) that will come with Wi-Fi capability. AATA also plans to lower the prices for passengers.

Thirty-day passes used to go for $125 will now cost $99 as of June 1. Ten-ride passes will be available for $40 and one-way tickets wll for $5 cash. University of Michigan Employees and downtown employees who participate in the go!Pass program can purchase 30-day passes for even less.

For more information on the route, click here for the Facebook page patrons of the bus have created.

Source: Mary Stasiak, spokeswoman for the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke