GCT worked with the Gwinnett Regional Transportation Authority to revise express schedules on two Discover Mills routes and a Snellville route to add service times during the morning and evening rush hour. Midday trips with few or no passengers were decreased, and four trips were added to the Snellville-to-downtown route...
Rising fuel prices have prompted more Gwinnett County residents to park their cars and get on the bus. Gwinnett County Transit ridership has increased nearly 24 percent on express routes and 26 percent on local routes between March and June of this year. The increase has resulted in overcrowding on some of the routes. “Despite the ridership increase, we’ve made adjustments to accommodate new riders. We added nine new 57-passenger MCI buses in mid-May, allowing us to accommodate much of the increase on three of the I-85/I-985 express routes,” said Phil Boyd, Gwinnett County Transit Director.
GCT also worked with the Gwinnett Regional Transportation Authority to revise express schedules on two Discover Mills routes and a Snellville route to add service times during the morning and evening rush hour. Midday trips with few or no passengers were decreased, and four trips were added to the Snellville-to-downtown route to offer passengers seven morning departures and seven evening return trips spaced about 30 minutes apart. “The net effect of restructuring these routes is that we added trips and seats to the rush commuting hours without significantly increasing overall operating costs. In fact, GCT will stay within the GRTA operating budget through 2011 without increasing operating costs that would shorten the contract,” said Boyd.
In addition to the route increases, GCT negotiated with GRTA to keep two of the five 57-passenger MCI coach buses that originally were leased for just one year. Later this year, GCT plans to purchase with federal and state transit capital assistance several new MCI clean diesel coach buses with a seating capacity of 57 to replace the 37-passenger CNG buses. They expect to replace the entire GCT fleet with MCI buses by mid-2009. The CNG buses will be used on local routes to provide additional seating.
Gwinnett County Transit plans to increase parking at the U.S. 78/Hewatt Road park-and-ride lot and complete construction plans for more spaces in the Discover Mills park-and-ride lot. Transit shelters will also be installed along local routes to protect riders from the elements.
“As more residents use transit, we will continually strive to get people where they need to go as quickly and comfortably as possible,” Boyd said. “Our commitment to providing excellent customer service is evidenced by our efforts to refine routes and add seating, parking and shelters.”
###