SMTD Adding Saturday Night Service

August 27th will be the first night of Saturday night service, extending current Monday through Friday night service to now include Saturday nights. 

“Tight budgets can make expanding service a challenge, but we have discussed Saturday night service for some time, and we are pleased to be able to offer Springfield this additional transportation option,” said SMTD Board of Trustees Chairman Brian Brewer. 

SMTD currently runs five hourly night service routes Monday through Friday beginning at 6:45PM and ending at 11:45PM. Night service routes are designed to be longer but still travel to popular destinations like the University of Illinois Springfield, Lincoln Land Community College, both hospitals as well as dining and shopping across the city. 

“SMTD strives to provide the best service possible with the resources we have,” Brewer added, “and we look forward to continuing to improve our system with new technology, new equipment and carefully-designed system changes that will benefit passengers now and well into the future.” 

Routes and details can be found at the website SMTD.org, where passengers can also choose to use SMTD’s trip planner to find the best route to take to their destination. 

July 10th: Night Service Transfer Center Temporarily Moving to 5th & Capitol

Due to the Downtown Bacon Throwdown & Music Fest being held this weekend at 5th & Washington, the Night Service Transfer Center will be moved to Bus Stop C at the Day Service Transfer Center location at 5th & Capitol. This move only applies to Night Service on Friday, July 10th. Day Service buses will not be affected on Friday or Saturday.

Click here to read more about the event on Downtown Springfield, Inc.'s website.

July 1st Route Changes

Several route changes are going into effect on July 1st, 2015. 

Eliminated Routes

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• 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.