Several changes to night service and college routes go into effect on January 6th, 2025.
Several streets downtown will be closed for the Route 66 Mother Road Festival being held this weekend so we will be relocating both the day and night transfer centers to 5th & Jackson. Here's a listing of the detour maps for each route:
- Route 1 - North 5th
- Route 2 - North 9th
- Route 3 - Grandview
- Route 4 - West Jefferson
- Route 5 - North Walnut
- Route 6 - East Cook / Ash / White Oaks Mall
- Route 7 - West Washington
- Route 8 - 1st & Highland
- Route 9 - M. L. King
- Route 10 - Southern View / Laketown
- Route 11 - UIS
- Route 13 - MacArthur / Westchester / Jerome
- Route 14 - Wabash / Prairie Crossing / Gaines Mill
- Route 15 - South 11th / UIS / LLCC
- Route 16 - Bergen Park / Sand Hill
- Route 18 - Lawrence / Knox Knolls
- Route 901 - North Side Night Service
- Route 902 - Southeast Side Night Service
- Route 903 - West Side Night Service
- Route 905 - UIS / LLCC Night Service
Several routes will also have to make slightly different detours on Friday, September 22nd due to the parade, starting at 5:45 pm and lasting until the parade concludes. These can be seen on this map.
On Saturday, May13, 2017 at 6:00am, due to the 5K event downtown,
the transfer center will be located on the south side of Monroe (State Capitol side) between
2nd & College, returning to the regular transfer center at 5th & Capitol at 11:45am. Routes will
stage as follows:
- Between College and Spring on Monroe:
- 1 N. 5th
- 2 N. 9th
- 3 Grandview
- 4 W. Jefferson
- 5 N. Walnut
- 7 W. Washington
- 13 MacArthur/Westchester
- 16 Bergen Park/Sand Hill
- 18 Lawrence/Knox Knolls
- Between Spring and 2nd Streets on Monroe:
- 6 E. Cook
- 8 1st/Highland
- 9 M.L. King
- 10 Southern View/Laketown
- 11 UIS
- 14 Wabash/Prairie Crossing
- 15 So. 11th/UIS/LLC
As usual, buses will be in service on Veterans Day (Friday, November 9th) but will be running Saturday schedules which means some routes will run every hour instead of every half-hour. We have included this holiday service in our GTFS data so that supported navigation apps will be able to give you the correct information.
Additionally, the daytime transfer center will be moved one block south to 5th & Jackson during the Veterans Day parade, from approximately 8:15 AM to 11:45 AM. After the parade concludes the transfer center will be moved back to its normal location at 5th & Capitol.
The city will begin rail bridge repairs on 9th Street between Converse and Black on Thursday, October 1st. This section of 9th St. is expected to be closed for the entire month. Route 2 - North 9th buses will make a slight detour to bypass the road closure.
Update 9/15/15: Bus Stop A is up and running as usual this morning.
Original posting:
Attention SMTD Passengers:
Due to a water main break, 5th Street between Capitol and Jackson at the Downtown Transfer Center is closed. As a result, Bus Stop A is inaccessible.
Routes 10 - S. View/Laketown and 8 - 1st/Highland will be on 4th Street between Jackson & Capitol and may be double parked to pick up passengers. Route 14 - Wabash/Prairie Crossing will be at Bus Stop C on Capitol and inbound Route 2 - N. 9th will be detouring on 7th Street to get to the Transfer Center.
This post will be updated as new information becomes available.
The Springfield Mass Transit District (SMTD) Board of Trustees approved a plan July 27th to study bus stops on routes throughout the SMTD system, make proposals for consolidating bus stops, take public comment and implement changes over the next eighteen months. On August 5th at 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM in the Carnegie Room South at Lincoln Library (southwest corner of the 1st floor), the first public comment meeting will be held regarding proposed bus stop consolidation on the North 5th Route 1 and North 9th Route 2.
“Over the years, SMTD has continued to add bus stops throughout the city for various purposes, and we have now reached the point that we have considerable overlap of the areas meant to be covered by a bus stop,” said Steve Schoeffel, SMTD’s Service Planning and Marketing Specialist. “We are looking to methodically study and update our system’s bus stops to move us closer to widely-accepted industry standards.”
SMTD believes the changes will still serve the public well with plenty of bus stops while allowing buses to cover routes faster with fewer stops made so close together – sometimes fewer than two hundred feet apart.
“Mass transit systems have to balance how quickly we can move people to their destinations with how far they must walk to reach their nearest bus stop,” Schoeffel continued. “A bus stop on every corner sounds great until you’re riding the bus and trying to make your transfer downtown in a bus that stops almost every block.”
This public comment part of the overall plan, while not legally required, is intended to give the public the opportunity to bring any specific concerns they might have to SMTD before bus stops are changed.
“We are not randomly removing every other bus stop, or anything close to that,” Schoeffel added. “We believe we can study our current stops, make some changes with the public’s input, and improve the system for our passengers and for traffic in general. Our goal would be to upgrade the actual bus stop signs once we have completed the optimization process across the entire system.”
Even with no State Fair shuttle, SMTD still a good option for fairgoers.
Several route changes are going into effect on July 1st, 2015.
Eliminated Routes
- Night Service 11:45 PM (Last) Trip - 10:45 PM will be the last trip on all Night Service routes. Buses will return to the Transfer Center at 11:45 PM, but will take passengers no further.
- Historic Sites - Passengers can ride Route 1 (North 5th) and Route 5 (North Walnut).
- Route 19 - Will be replaced with a morning supplemental route that departs the downtown Transfer Center at 7:20 AM and an afternoon supplemental that departs the Sangamon County Regional Office of Education (SCROE) at 4:30 PM. The schedules are as follows:
| Transfer Center A | SCROE | SoS | IDOT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:20 AM | 7:35 AM | 7:40 AM | 7:50 AM |
| SCROE | SoS | IDOT | Transfer Center A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:30 PM | 4:35 PM | 4:45 PM | 5:00 PM |
Other passengers can ride the Route 6 (East Cook), Route 9 (MLK), Route 11 (UIS), or Route 15 (S. 11th / UIS / LLCC) buses either on or within two to four blocks of the current Route 19.
- Southwind Park - A stop at the park is added to the Route 15 (S. 11th / UIS / LLCC) on Saturdays. Passengers riding the northern two-thirds of the route can ride the Route 10 (Laketown / Southern View). In addition to eliminating a low-performing route, this change makes travel to and from Southwind Park easier for UIS and LLCC students.
- State Fair - Passengers can ride Route 1 (North 5th) and Route 2 (North 9th) on Monday-Saturday.
- Willard Ice Supplemental Tripper - Passengers can ride Route 4 (West Jefferson).
- Park Tower Supplemental Tripper - Passengers can ride Route 14 (Wabash / Prairie Crossing) both ways on 2nd / Allen.
- Christ the King Supplemental Tripper - Route 14 (Wabash / Prairie Crossing) can be utilized on Barberry & Chatham Road.
- Country Club to SHS (AM) Supplemental Tripper - Route 18 (Lawrence / Knox Knolls) will take to College & Monroe and Route 7 (West Washington / White Oaks Mall) will take to Monroe & Walnut or Monroe & Lewis.
- Carl Sandburg (PM) Supplemental Tripper - Route 13 (Sherwood Plaza) inbound stop at Kirkley Lane.
Combined School Supplemental Trippers
- Add SHS (East Cook) Tripper to SHS (MLK / South 15th)
- Add Laketown (SEHS) Tripper to Southern View (SEHS)
- Add SEHS (Laketown) Tripper to (SEHS) Southern View
State Holiday Hours
Buses will run in Saturday Service format on the following holidays:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 18th)
- Lincoln's Birthday (February 12)
- Washington's Birthday / Presidents Day (3rd Monday of February)
- Veterans Day (November 11)
These and other planned service changes can be found on our Service Calendar.
The changes were the first recommendations of what SMTD staff plans to make an annual occurrence, utilizing analyses of passenger counts on each route and implementation of performance standards to produce the most efficient service possible for Springfield. That is not to say that routes will be eliminated every year.
"No one enjoys eliminating routes," said Managing Director Frank Squires, "but the reality is that, by reducing these clear inefficiencies, we are now in a much better position to provide better service and passenger amenities moving forward. By constantly evaluating our service, we can make any necessary annual adjustments to keep us providing the best service possible with the resources available to us without too often inconveniencing our passengers, and we can more easily add service in the future if we’re operating at maximum efficiency."
Other changes made by SMTD will be publicized at dates closer to when they will affect passengers, such as State Fair service closer to the opening of the Illinois State Fair, school supplemental route changes closer to the first day of school later this summer and reduced service hours on certain state holidays.
