Beverly Flohrs stood in front of a large, poster-sized map showing the changes to route 41, one of two routes serving Fayetteville to be split.
The time schedule and route changes mean she won't be able to ride the bus and make it to work by 7 a.m., when her shift starts, she said. Flohrs might have to walk nearly 3 miles to get to work.
At A Glance
Planned Changes
Ozark Regional Transit plans to split routes 41 and 40 and serve more areas of Fayetteville faster. Tentative plans would serve areas including the Fayetteville Industrial Park, Washington County Jail, Cliffs Apartments and Hill Place Apartments.
Source: Staff Report
"Right now, I'm just trying to figure it out," Flohrs said.
Flohrs was among about a dozen residents who turned out Tuesday evening to see new maps for proposed bus route changes during a meeting at the Fayetteville Public Library. Ozark Regional Transit is changing routes, bus stops and time schedules for routes across Northwest Arkansas, said Joel Gardner, executive director.
On Tuesday, transit officials took input from bus riders, like Flohrs, and answered questions. Flohrs lives near the intersection of South Morningside Drive and Huntsville Road and works at Tyson on South School Avenue. The bus on the newly adjusted route doesn't start until 6:30 a.m.
"I'm not upset," Flohrs said, adding that the route change makes her daughter's bus ride easier. "You can't please everybody."
All the routes and schedules are built around route 54, a popular route that ends at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Gardner called route 54 a rock solid route.
Moving one route's time could mean having to redo others, like a domino effect. The transit wants to connect all of Northwest Arkansas to create a transportation community. For example, under the proposed changes, Johnson will be connected by bus routes to and from Springdale and Fayetteville. The new plan also connects West Fork, Lincoln and Fayetteville.
However, the bus service has only a fixed amount of money, which means it has a set amount of time to operate, he said. A 30-minute change could cost the organization $3,825 per year, Gardner said.
Any change will make people uncomfortable at first, but the new routes are meant to save time and cover more areas in the city, said Kendall Luallen, transit senior analyst and IT manager.
Luallen showed bus rider Larry Blackburn that if he left Hillcrest Towers at the top of the hour, he could be at the Walmart Supercenter in 15 minutes. The ride is longer if Blackburn takes a bus half an hour later.
"It's going to be hard to get used to," Blackburn said.
As implementation of the route changes approaches, Gardner has been meeting with city councils, businesses and the public to get input into the new plans, which start as early as next month. The routes for Fayetteville will take affect April 28 through May 2, Gardner said.
On Tuesday, at the same time as the open-house style meeting at the library, Gardner presented route changes to the Springdale City Council. He said he wants suggestions. He wants to know what services are needed, he said.
After looking at the route and time schedule Flohrs would use, Gardner said possibly the schedule could be adjusted without costing the transit money. A bus could start at 6 a.m., he said.
The kind of problem Flohrs pointed out is why the public meetings are important, Gardner said.
"That's why we have these meetings -- to answer 'are we doing what's right for the community?'" Gardner said.
NW News on 02/26/2014