New Bus Hours More Popular Than Expected

March 30, 2010 - PRLog -- Blue Water Area Transit is pleased with community response to Saturday evening hours that were introduced March 6 to help area residents get to and from work.
    “We were pleasantly surprised to have a brand new service attract so many riders,” says Jim Wilson, BWAT general manager. “When we introduced evening hours on weekdays, it took over two years for ridership to reach this level.” 
    The new Saturday evening service is identical to the agency’s weekday evening service, including all fixed routes and dial-a-ride service areas.
    “I’m always very pleased when the public takes advantage of one of our new services, since it shows that there is a need,” says Linda Bruckner, Blue Water Area Transportation Commission Board vice chair.
    Extended evening hours support the agency’s goal to help area residents get to and from work by coordinating with their work schedules.
    The transit agency also recently expanded their morning service to start as early as 5:15 a.m. along several routes. The change was designed to help riders connect with seven fixed-route buses that leave downtown Port Huron at 6:15 a.m., as well as new commuter routes that travel to Macomb County and stop in Marysville, St. Clair, Algonac, Clay Township, Pearl Beach, Ira Township, Anchorville, and New Baltimore. 
    BWAT continues a proud tradition of innovation in public transit that has served Port Huron for more than a century. Port Huron was one of the nation’s first communities to operate an electrified transit system in the 1880s and one of the first to operate motor coaches when they became popular in the 1930s. Following an eight-year hiatus, the current bus service began in September 1976. Since then, BWAT has carried more than 20 million riders and continues the tradition of innovation by producing its own compressed natural gas alternative fuel since 1996. 

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Blue Water Area Transit operates the largest fleet of alternative fuel buses in Michigan, and is the largest producer of compressed natural gas within the state.