June 6th Route Updates

There are a handful of changes and updates going into effect on Monday, June 6th.

Urbanized Area Routes

Due to extremely low ridership, the mid-day trips spanning 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM on routes 410 (Chatham), 430 (Sherman), and 440 (Riverton) are suspended until further notice.

Route 4 - West Lawrence

Route 4 previously used 7th Street to circle to Clay and then 9th to make a stop at the SMTD office before heading west, but will now use 8th Street instead.

Route 7 - West Washington

Map showing the new path of Route 7 (red) compared to the previous version (blue).

Instead of taking West White Oaks to Iles to get to Veterans Parkway inbound, Route 7 will continue north on West White Oaks to Green Briar before getting on Veterans. Two stops that had previously been cut (1304 and 1306) will be reinstalled on the east side of West White Oaks between Iles and Greenbriar, mirroring the Route 903 stops (1272 and 1273) on the west side of that road segment.

Route 15 - UIS / Seven Pines

The “teardrop” at the UIS PAC building is reopened but there isn’t enough room for multiple buses to be stopped there at the same time. The 11 will remain unchanged, but the 15 will start its route at the UIS book store instead.

Franklin Park (Routes 15 and 905)

Bus stops 1366 and 1367 on South 11th Street have been moved west to the light poles closest to the new sidewalk connecting Pickfair Road and 11th Street, making service more accessible for the Franklin Park area. Both stops are serviced by Route 15 and Route 905. This change has already gone into effect, but on June 6th the new locations will be reflected in the schedule data used for our real-time bus tracker and navigation apps like Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc.

Route 801 - State Fair Shuttle

The State Fair Shuttle bus will offer 30-minute trips to and from the fair and downtown on weekday evenings from August 13th to August 20th. Check our State Fair 2022 page for more information on service to the fair.

Posted
AuthorSMTD
CategoriesRoute 905, State Fair, Route 4, Route 7, Route 15, Urbanized Area Routes

Schedule Updates for January 2020

A new schedule will begin on January 6th, 2020 and this gives us an opportunity to update some routes to address reported issues and make the system perform better overall.

Route 6 - Clear Lake / Junction Circle

Now that the Ash Street underpass is open, Route 6 will resume using Ash Street instead of detouring around it via Iles/Oberlin. Some slight changes to the time checks on the inbound portion of the schedule were also made to account for the difference in travel time.

Route 7 - West Washington

Route 7 travels to and from the west side of Springfield and downtown, providing connections both at the downtown transfer center and at White Oaks Mall. These connections must be reliable for them to be useful and the current version of the route is not as reliable as it could be. For comparison, here is a graph of the average on-time performance of Route 7 versus that of Route 3.

Daily On-Time Performance Averages

Though Route 7 sometimes reaches as high as the low to mid-90’s on some days, it’s much more variable - and thus less reliable - than other routes such as the 3. And since the 7 connects to other routes downtown and at the mall, this can create on-time issues that cascade through the rest of the system.

To remedy this, we will be removing a total of 19 stops on Route 7 that have been identified as having low ridership or as being close enough to another stop to warrant consolidation. This brings the average stop spacing of the route from 920 feet to 1,163 feet and allows the bus to reach higher speeds.

The map below shows the stops we will be removing in black, with the remaining stops in blue. Click here to open the map in a new tab/window.

There will also be some slight adjustments to the inbound time checks to ensure the bus does not waste any time getting downtown.

Route 902 - Southeast Side Night Service

The newly-opened Ash Street underpass will also allow the 902 to resume using Ash from 6th Street to MLK Drive inbound. No changes will be made to the timetable.

See a one-sheet flyer here.

Posted
AuthorSMTD
CategoriesRoute 6, Route 7, Route 902

Detours for 2017 Route 66 Mother Road Festival

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:

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.

Posted
AuthorSMTD
CategoriesRoute 1, Route 10, Route 11, Route 13, Route 14, Route 15, Route 16, Route 19, Route 18, Route 2, Route 3, Route 4, Route 5, Route 6, Route 7, Route 8, Route 9, Route 901, Route 902, Route 903, Route 905, Transfer Center

Temporary Transfer Center for 5K on Saturday Morning

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
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AuthorSMTD
CategoriesTransfer Center, Route 1, Route 10, Route 11, Route 13, Route 14, Route 15, Route 16, Route 18, Route 19, Route 2, Route 3, Route 4, Route 5, Route 6, Route 7, Route 8, Route 9

Reminder: Saturday Schedule on Veterans Day

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. 

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AuthorSMTD
CategoriesRoute 1, Route 10, Route 11, Route 13, Route 14, Route 15, Route 16, Route 18, Route 19, Route 2, Route 3, Route 4, Route 5, Route 6, Route 7, Route 8, Route 9, Route 901, Route 902, Route 903, Route 904, Route 905, Transfer Center

SMTD Accepting Public Comment Online Re: Route 7 Stop Optimization

Springfield, IL – The Springfield Mass Transit District (SMTD) Board of Trustees approved a plan July 27th to study bus stops throughout the SMTD system, make proposals for adding or removing bus stops, take public comment and implement changes over the next eighteen months.  As of March, SMTD has completed optimization along four routes, and is entering the public comment phase on its fifth route.

“Route 7 is the fifth route we have addressed so far, and we plan to shake things up a little by taking public comment online this time,” said Steve Schoeffel, SMTD’s Service Planning and Marketing Specialist.  “Because turnout at our previous public comment sessions has been low, we are rolling out online public comment this time to see how the public responds.  Previously, there was no formal presentation, and staff just did question and answer periods with anyone that asked questions.  This time, more information is available via our website, and the public can fill out an electronic form with any questions or concerns they might have.”

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 actually changed.  SMTD believes the changes will still serve the public well with plenty of remaining bus stops while allowing buses to cover routes faster with fewer stops made so close together – sometimes fewer than two hundred feet apart.  

 “The goal of SMTD’s Bus Stop Optimization Plan is to provide balance between on-time service and convenient pedestrian access to bus stops,” Schoeffel added.  “Through a route-by-route analysis, review and implementation schedule, we plan to complete this project in late 2017, and our hope is to upgrade all bus stop signs system-wide once the project is finished.” 

Route 7 West Washington travels west along Adams then Washington past Springfield and Sacred Heart Griffin high schools, Fairhills Mall and a number of retirement homes and apartment complexes.  Turning south onto Durkin Drive, the route continues to Monroe and Old Jacksonville Road, Koke Mill, West Iles, White Oaks Mall, West White Oaks Drive and to Parkway Pointe and back.  The ninety-minute route runs every thirty minutes during peak times on weekdays and every hour off-peak and on Saturdays.

Schoeffel noted that, so far, along the four routes already completed, there have been virtually no complaints.  “SMTD does our best to inconvenience as few of our passengers as possible while making these changes that we believe ultimately benefit everyone with more reliable, on-time service.”

Click here to review the Route 7 Optimization Plan and to submit a comment.

Posted
AuthorSMTD
CategoriesRoute 7