Effective Saturday, March 21st, Sangamon Mass Transit District (SMTD) is announcing that all bus travel must be for essential services only. Passengers riding buses without destinations to essential services will not be allowed to continue riding. Passengers that claim they are sick or appear symptomatic may be refused a ride for the safety of operators and other passengers.

“In the last few days, while our regular ridership has dropped significantly, we have seen an increase in passengers getting on the buses just to ride around,” said SMTD Managing Director Frank Squires. “According to the Governor’s order Friday, people are only supposed to be out in public if they’re obtaining essential services or somehow providing those services through their job, and officials have been clear that if you’re sick, do not go out and expose others. We need everyone else to stay home, and we’re trying to do our part to comply with that order to keep our operators and other passengers safe.”

Also, effective Monday, March 23rd, Sangamon Mass Transit District (SMTD) will end night service at 9:00pm, adding to the service reductions already announced for Chatham, Riverton, Rochester, and Sherman. Night service will end at 9:00pm with the last trip departing the Transfer Center at 8:00pm.

“As we anticipated, ridership continues to drop as more people are sent home to work and more avoid going out in public and the possibility of exposure to COVID-19,” said Squires. “These new night service hours more closely reflect the closing times stores in the area have put in place this week and the riding patterns of passengers we’re taking to and from work.”

SMTD announced Thursday it is suspending urbanized area service to Chatham, Riverton, Rochester, and Sherman due to low ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Passengers normally riding the UA1, UA2, UA3 and UA4 routes to and from those communities that still need transportation can call SMTD’s Access paratransit office at (217) 522-8594 to be set up in the system to schedule rides.

SMTD is evaluating operations daily and following recommendations from public health officials and the CDC. SMTD Offices on South 9th are now closed to the public.

“The situation is very fluid, and we expect to make further service reductions next week,” added Squires. “As soon as we can, we will make public announcements regarding any further reductions.”

The public is advised to stay home, and anyone who is sick is urged to avoid using SMTD in order to protect bus operators and other passengers.