Madison County Transit

MCT ANNOUNCES JANUARY 2012 SERVICE CHANGES

Service Adjustments will take Effect Sunday, January 8, 2012

GRANITE CITY, ILL., December 12, 2011. . . In November, Madison County Transit’s (MCT) fixed route ridership grew for the twelfth straight month, with a 16% increase in boardings over November 2010. In response to growing demand for service and shifts in ridership patterns, MCT will make a series of route and schedule adjustments as part of its regular January service change, effective Sun., Jan. 8, 2012. The proposed changes were initially announced in September, followed by a public comment period to collect feedback on the proposal. As a result of the comments received, changes were made to the final proposal. A summary of proposed changes, by route, is listed below:

#5 Tri-City Regional: Three Saturday trips will be added from the 5^th & Missouri MetroLink Station to Gateway Commerce Center on Saturdays, for 6 a.m., 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. shift times.
#14X Highland – Troy Express: The low performing 5:30 a.m. trip will be removed but a trip will be added between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. to accommodate overloads. Times will be re-balanced to create 10-minute service from Highland, St. Jacob and Troy to St. Louis between 6:00 and 7:00 a.m.
#15 Collinsville Shuttle: Evening service will be extended until 9:30 p.m. between Collinsville Station and IL-157 to accommodate shift times at more than 30 retail locations in Collinsville Crossing and 17 night classes at Sanford Brown College.
#16X Edwardsville– Glen Carbon Express: Low performing 2:55 p.m. trip to MetroLink will be eliminated.
#18 Collinsville Regional / #18X Collinsville Express: The #18 and #18X will be combined, with former #18X trips traveling to the 5th & Missouri MetroLink Station, except one trip which will run from Collinsville (at 6:06 a.m.) to downtown St. Louis in the morning and one return trip to Collinsville (leaving Jefferson & Pine at 4:35 p.m.) in the afternoon. Trip times were selected based on passenger feedback and ridership data.
#19 Edwardsville – Collinsville: Three trips will be shifted to meet the new #18 trips at Collinsville Station.

“The MCT Board of Trustees is committed to providing affordable and efficient transportation services that are commensurate with demand,” said MCT Managing Director Jerry Kane. “As ridership increases and travel patterns shift, MCT will continue to meet the changing transportation needs of Madison County residents.”

Not directly related to the service change, but also being implemented on January 8, 2012, MCT will transition to designated stops on the route of the #12 Bethalto Shuttle. Effective January 8, the #12 will only pick-up and drop-off at locations where MCT Bus Stop signs have been placed. MCT is in the process of transitioning all of its fixed routes from a “flag-stop” to a “bus stop” system, to ensure that stop areas are safe for the bus to load and unload passengers, to eliminate confusion about where to board and to speed up bus routes by limiting the number of potential pick-up and drop-off points. A complete list of sign locations for the #12 is available online at www.mct.org.

For detailed route and schedule information, visit www.mct.org or pick up a new timetable, labeled “January 8, 2012” on any MCT bus or transfer station or at one of 90 schedule timetable distribution locations throughout Madison County. For more information, call 618-931-7433, Option #3 or e-mail info@mct.org.

Madison County Transit (MCT) is the multi-modal transportation provider for Madison County, Illinois, operating fixed-route bus service in Madison County, to MetroLink, and to downtown St. Louis; providing Paratransit service for qualified elderly and disabled residents; offering service to the Rams games and the Muny in Forest Park; constructing and maintaining the MCT Trails, more than 100 miles of scenic bikeways; and overseeing RideFinders, the St. Louis region’s free carpooling and vanpooling ride-match program.