Ozark Regional Transit carried more than 300,000 passengers in 2013, and there's a reason. This Northwest Arkansas bus service is top rate. A trip Tuesday proved it.
• DESTINATIONS: Joel Gardner, executive director of Ozark Transit, and his staff have established stops that are destinations, places people want or need to go. In Springdale, these include the NorthWest Arkansas Community College campus, the Jones Center, Northwest Technical Institute, Ozark Guidance, Price Cutter, the Arkansas State Revenue Office, the Walmart Supercenter and more.
"We see where people are getting off and on," Gardner said. "And from that, we start to develop another stop. We don't just randomly pick a spot. We allow the riders to help us determine the stops. And all the local businesses and schools (where stops are) have been more than welcoming."
Additionally, a wanna-be rider can flag down a bus at any point along the route, and the driver will stop if conditions allow him to do so safely. A rider waved down the bus Tuesday at Midway Trailer Park, and bus driver Gordon Blair called the "regular" by name as he climbed the steps into the bus.
In addition, ORT buses cross paths with the University of Arkansas' Razorback Transit buses, which can carry riders to even more destinations. An Interstate 540 express route of Ozark Transit runs between the community college in Bentonville and Lot 54 on the southern end of the university campus in Fayetteville, with stops at NWACC in Springdale and the Northwest Arkansas Mall. This route is used by many "dual students" who take classes at both schools, Gardner said.
• ON TIME: In fact, the buses often run ahead of schedule. A bus stops once an hour at any particular location. Some stops are "timed stops," Blair explained. If the bus arrives early, the driver must sit until the appointed time to leave that stop. These stops usually offer some sort of shelter and seats.
• COMMUNITY CONCERN: The service has recently eliminated stops on Sunset Avenue. Intense traffic flow is one reason.
"I ride the buses, too," Gardner said. "And I watch the traffic. Sure, they want to get on and off as close as possible, and they need to be safe. But, also, we don't need to be just one more stop-and-go thing on Sunset."
Now, stops lie just off Sunset at places such as the Walmart Neighborhood Market and the hotels just north of Lowe's Home Improvement Center.
• THERE'S AN APP: A smart phone app named Route Shout allows riders to keep track of their buses in many ways. The app can spot a rider and show his location on a map; it then lists the closest stops. The same can be done by typing an address. Or a rider can check on the status of a route -- its stops, scheduled times and actual times.
For example, Springdale's Route 42 bus was scheduled to stop at 10:05 a.m. at the Harps Food Store on Backus in Springdale. As this column was being written Wednesday, the app showed the bus was scheduled to depart from this stop in three minutes, indicating to the rider he doesn't have time to buy groceries.
On Tuesday, one bus ran a bit late after changing drivers in mid-day. The time was made up during the next run of the route, however.
• BARGAIN FARE: Just $1.25 for a ride and transfer; 60 cents for senior citizens; $1 for University of Arkansas students; free with a student pass for NWACC students in any city; and free for children younger than 6.
• PRO DRIVERS: Each driver carries a commercial driver's license with a rating for passengers. All undergo training through Ozark Transit and spend several weeks driving with other drivers.
Because of the way the routes are laid out, the drivers don't have to rush through traffic -- even if late. "There's never a reason to get in a hurry," said driver Norman Ridenoure. "That's when you make mistakes."
• SQUEAKY CLEAN: The buses are pristine: no "gunk" around fittings, no stains on the seats, not even little pieces of trash on the floor.
"It's an old bus," driver Beth Smith said of hers Tuesday. "We clean it every day -- sweep it, wash it, mop it ... whatever it needs."
• TIME: Time might be the only drawback of this bus service. My trip from NWACC in Springdale to the Northwest Arkansas Mall took four hours, including the hour between buses for lunch in the food court. Transfers were easy to make at Walmart, but the wait for my next buses was lengthy -- 30 and 41 minutes, respectively. On my own, I could have made the trip in about an hour. But I wouldn't have met the other riders. What a great group of people.
NW News on 04/03/2014