A plan to restructure bus routes and simplify bus fare options for Wichita’s transit system is expected to be presented to City Council next month.
The Wichita Transit Advisory Board endorsed a new bus service plan that includes a redesign of all 17 routes in the city.
Wichita Transit Director Steve Spade says they were able to tweak the original proposal after hearing concerns from residents of neighborhoods where bus service would’ve been cut.
"We were able to find a way to redesign the service so that we met the needs of those neighborhoods, yet we were also able to affect the changes in the routes that we needed to do so we found some great middle ground I think," he says.
Spade says the daily bus fare will remain at $1.75, but now under the new plan, riders can buy a 30-day or weekly pass at a discount, and there will be no transfer fees.
The recommended bus service plan is the result of a six-week public input process.
The Wichita Transit Advisory Board was created in 2008 to advise the city council on recommendations from Wichita Transit for service improvements. There are currently 15 board members who are appointed by members of the City Council.
If city council approves the recommended plan, the changes will go into effect on March 28, 2016.
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