With an estimated 1,200 passenger rides daily, many Great Falls residents rely on the bus service to get them where they need to be, but that only extends within the certain boundaries of the bus routes, which the population of the city has spilled out of in recent years.
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Great Falls Transit general manager Nadine Hanning says, “The biggest issue we have really right now is people want transportation beyond our existing bus routes. The district boundaries are pretty small compared to the city overall.”
Great Falls Transit plans to expand their routes as the needs of the community change, especially on the south side of the city near Benefis Health System, which has seen a population density spike with the addition of new medical facilities, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, and residential housing.
The south-most route the bus extends service to is still a 20 minute walk from the edge of the residential area.
Even though community members are requesting the change, adding bus routes outside of district boundaries is no small undertaking.
Hanning explains, “It's all governed by state laws and you have to have a process where the people decide that they want to have a district, and then there's a process for putting that on the ballot, and then they have to have a vote on it. So, it's not something that we can just say, ‘This is a good idea, let's everybody start paying taxes here.’”
Great Falls Transit is also working to expand services in other ways to fit the needs of the community, like extending hours of operation and running bus service on Sundays.
The agency also recently approved a new Transit Development Plan, which hadn’t been updated since 2010.
The document outlines potentially adding fixed bus stops, and expansion of services like extending the bus service hours later, and adding service on Sundays.
Hanning says, “The transit system is here for them. They pay the taxes. This is their transit system. So we welcome comments and feedback any time.”
Click here to visit the Great Falls Transit website; click here to send questions, comments, and suggestions to Great Falls Transit.
