Chadron City Transit has scrapped its Fixed/Deviated Route Pilot Program and replaced it with a Commute To/From Work program to complement the original On Demand service.
City Transit Supervisor Julie Lawrence says the fixed route program was given a 3 month trial to see if riders would utilize the service provided at each designated location. She canceled it at the first of the month because of a lack of ridership.
Since her goal is to find the ways to best serve the community, Lawrence says the fixed route experiment wasn’t a failure, it was, to paraphrase Thomas Edison, “successfully finding a way that will not work.”
Lawrence is starting off with a few regulars, but expects to see numbers grow with more patients with appointments, tests, or therapy sessions at Chadron Community Hospital at 8:00 AM or after 4:00 PM.
Lawrence also expects the Commute hours to gain more riders as people realize City Transit is a way for them to avoid having to drive in winter weather or to get to or from the Chadron airport for the morning departure and afternoon arrivals.
One thing she is really hoping is that more riders, both Commute and On Demand, realize the financial wisdom of buying the $20-dollar 22-ride pass.
Again the new Commute service runs 7-9:00 AM and 4-6:00 PM while the Demand service remains 8-4:00 with both running Monday-Friday. Contact 308-432-0540 for more information or to schedule a ride.