WACO, TX — Waco Transit has big changes planned to help move a growing workforce to a growing number of jobs.
Transit leaders want input from everyone on the best stops to make along a newly planned route.
A meeting next week will give everyone a chance to be heard.
Shauntae Griggs takes Waco Transit to her job every day at Sanderson Farms.
She's heard about big changes coming to the bus system, and wonders most about one thing.
”I want to know I'm still gonna be able to get to work on time, that's the main thing,” she said.
She says her trip to work takes her less than 20 minutes most days, while other bus riders say they'd benefit from buses that run every 15 minutes.
"What we're trying to do is, put this bus rapid transit corridor together so we can decrease travel time 15 minute increments is our goal," explained Serena Stevenson, General Manager of Waco Transit.
The bus rapid transit corridor would travel largely along Franklin Avenue then switch over to Waco Drive connecting Lacy-Lakeview, Waco, Woodway and points in-between.
What do bus riders and the general public have to say about the proposed changes here?
A virtual meeting December 10th aims to find out.
The meeting will focus on where riders want and need to stop along the way. A 2018 transportation study showed the biggest blue dots on a map as the most popular stops.
”The route services the industrial and commercial employment centers the central business district as well as important retail centers,” said Stevenson.
Connecting the cities, and making for more efficient transfers to routes coming off the main line, is something Waco Transit will focus on in their next set of public hearings early next year.
”We're really trying to get them involved through this virtual public hearing. We're gonna have the option for them to listen, they can call in, they can make comments and we'll kind of go through the steps what's next in respect to the project,” said Stevenson.
Because as Waco and Central Texas grow, more people will need to get to jobs at places like Holt Catapilar, and the New Amazon warehouse.
Waco Transit wants to get folks to those jobs as quickly as it gets Shauntae Griggs to her job at Sanderson Farms.
The virtual meeting takes place this coming Thursday, December 10th, at 6pm. Look for it here.
