Due to the President's visit to Springfield on Wednesday, February 10th, the Daytime Transfer Center will be relocated a block south from 5th & Capitol to 5th & Jackson. The Night Service Transfer Center will not be affected.
The stop layout for the temporary Day Service Transfer Center location can be seen on the map below. Click here to open the map in a new tab or window.
The Springfield Mass Transit District (SMTD) will once again enter its popular lighted bus in the Springfield Jaycees Christmas Parade this coming Saturday. 2015 will be the fourth year, and SMTD volunteers try to raise the bar with some new addition each year.
“Our maintenance department takes a lot of pride in their work day in and day out,” said SMTD Managing Director Frank Squires, “and decorating and programming this bus is a chance to volunteer on something they can see the community enjoy every year.”
Nearly 30,000 lights cover the mainline bus, which is requested from communities and businesses all over the Springfield area. SMTD even got calls from across the country when the bus was mentioned in a story in the industry’s Busline Magazine this year. The lights are programmed across 16 different channels, which took almost 30 volunteer hours, and they are powered by an external generator attached specifically for the lights and speakers.
Squires said SMTD employees and their families volunteer to walk with the bus in the parade, and the bus is driven by an experienced operator nearing retirement. SMTD is adding a new feature this year but won’t reveal it until the parade on Saturday.
After the parade, the bus will make special appearances in the Springfield area during the month of December. Employee volunteers will be collecting unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots. Here's the full schedule:
| Date | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, December 5th | Springfield Christmas Parade | 7:30 PM |
| Tuesday, December 8th | Kmart on Wabash Ave. | 5-8 PM |
| Wednesday, December 9th | Walmart on Freedom Drive | 5-8 PM |
| Thursday, December 10th | Kmart on Clear Lake Ave. | 5-8 PM |
| Friday, December 11th | HyVee | 5-8 PM |
| Saturday, December 12th | Walmart on Dirksen Pkwy. | 5-8 PM |
| Tuesday, December 15th | J.C. Penney | 5-8 PM |
| Wednesday, December 16th | Menard's - South Side | 5-8 PM |
| Thursday, December 17th | St. John's Children's Hospital | 5-8 PM |
| Friday, December 18th | Farm & Home on Wabash Ave. | 5-8 PM |
| Saturday, December 19th | Chatham Park | 5-8 PM |
| Tuesday, December 22nd | Walmart on 6th St. | 5-8 PM |
| Wednesday, December 23rd | Downtown Transfer Center | 4-6 PM |
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. On December 2nd from Noon to 1:00PM and from 4:30PM to 6:00PM a public comment meeting will be held in the Board Room of SMTD, 928 S. 9th Street, regarding proposed bus stop changes on Route 11 - UIS.
“The goal of SMTD’s Bus Stop Optimization Plan is to provide balance between on-time service and convenient pedestrian access to bus stops,” said Steve Schoeffel, SMTD’s Service Planning and Marketing Specialist. “Through a route-by-route analysis, review and implementation schedule, we plan to complete this project in late 2017.”
SMTD believes the changes will still serve the public well with plenty of bus stops while allowing buses to cover routes faster with fewer stops made so close together – sometimes fewer than two hundred feet apart. 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 changed.
“This is the fourth route we have addressed so far, and of special note this time is the fact that this route serves the University of Illinois – Springfield (UIS),” Schoeffel pointed out. “There are no changes that should directly affect most UIS students. We do plan to remove a set of stops near West Lake Shore Drive and Edgar Lee Masters Drive, but we understand those stops are no longer used by students. We will continue to serve the Public Affairs Center.”
In addition to the UIS campus, Route 11 also serves South Grand Avenue east of 7th Street, the County Health Department, Taylor Avenue from South Grand to Stevenson Drive, West Lake Shore Drive from Stevenson Drive to the UIS campus, and 9th Street between South Grand and Cook, including SMTD’s administrative offices.
Schoeffel said that, so far, along the three 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.”
SMTD Reminds Passengers Of Holiday Service Changes
No Service on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day
Springfield, IL – Springfield Mass Transit District (SMTD) is reminding passengers that there will be no bus service on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, and there will be no night service on Christmas Eve.
“Our employees will be enjoying Thanksgiving, the night of Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Day with their families and friends,” said Steve Schoeffel, Service Planning and Marketing Specialist at SMTD.
Buses will run as normal the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.
“There are only six days of the year when the buses are not scheduled to run, and three of those are during the end-of-year holiday season,” Schoeffel added. “We want to make sure our passengers are well-aware of when we will not be running on our regular schedules. So, we will publicize these No Service days before each one. “We wish all of our passengers and employees a safe and happy holiday season.”
Schoeffel said that after the first of the year, more reminders will be sent out regarding the additional holidays in January and February when SMTD will only be running on Saturday service hours.
More information about routes and schedules can be found at SMTD.org and on printed paper schedules posted at bus shelters and available for free at the SMTD administrative offices on S. 9th Street.
Springfield Mass Transit District’s (SMTD) Board of Trustees approved a plan in August to expand Access paratransit service under Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) rules. The expansion takes effect today, October 19th, and adds three quarters of one mile to the existing minimum three quarters of one mile from the nearest fixed route point the ADA requires for a total of one-and-a-half miles from the nearest SMTD fixed route.
“As most agencies did when the original mandate was first issued, SMTD provided the minimum service required under the ADA,” said SMTD Managing Director Frank Squires. “After many requests for this service from the public, we believe we can handle this expansion and better serve Springfield without substantially increasing our operating costs.”
SMTD’s Access paratransit service provides transportation for persons with disabilities who are unable to use the SMTD fixed-route bus service. Individuals with disabilities must apply to become eligible to use the service. To become eligible, the individual must meet one of the three criteria.
To request an application to be mailed or faxed, interested residents can find more information on the website (see this page) or by calling SMTD at (217) 522-8594. Completed applications can be faxed to (217) 789-9819, and processing of applications can take up to twenty-one (21) days. For assistance filling out the application, residents can contact the Springfield Center for Independent Living (SCIL) at (217) 523-2587.
“Access paratransit service is door-to-door service, allowing qualified residents to schedule rides in advance to get to where they need to go when regular fixed route service is not accessible to them,” Squires added. “With this expansion, our hope is to provide more ADA service to more residents of our community who have the most difficulty finding the transportation they need.”
The city will begin rail bridge repairs on 9th Street between Converse and Black on Thursday, October 1st. This section of 9th St. is expected to be closed for the entire month. Route 2 - North 9th buses will make a slight detour to bypass the road closure.
The Springfield Mass Transit District (SMTD) Board of Trustees approved a plan July 27th to study bus stops on routes throughout the SMTD system, make proposals for adding or removing bus stops, take public comment and implement changes over the next eighteen months. On September 30th at 4:00PM to 6:00PM at the Springfield Housing Authority offices, 200 N. 11th Street, a public comment meeting will be held regarding proposed bus stop consolidation on the Grandview Route 3. At the same time, staff from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) will be on hand to gather information to be considered in the Statewide Public Transportation Plan.
“Over the years, SMTD has continued to add bus stops throughout the city for various purposes, and we have reached the point that we have considerable overlap of the areas meant to be covered by a single bus stop,” said Steve Schoeffel, SMTD’s Service Planning and Marketing Specialist. “We are continuing to methodically study and update our system’s bus stops to move us closer to widely-accepted industry standards.”
SMTD believes the changes will still serve the public well with plenty of bus stops while allowing buses to cover routes faster with fewer stops made so close together – sometimes fewer than two hundred feet apart. 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 changed.
“We are not randomly removing every other bus stop, or anything close to that,” Schoeffel added. “We believe we can study our current stops, make some changes with the public’s input, and improve the system for our passengers and for traffic in general. Our goal would be to upgrade the actual bus stop signs once we have completed the optimization process across the entire system.”
IDOT will also be present to gather information for the development of the Statewide Public Transportation Plan. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide information on transportation needs and review transit data collected thus far for the area of Adams, Brown, Cass, Christian, Hancock, Logan, Macoupin, Mason, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Sangamon, Schuyler and Scott Counties.
Due to the Route 66 Mother Road Festival being held in downtown Springfield this weekend, the daytime transfer center will be moved on Friday, September 25th and Saturday, September 26th from its normal location at 5th & Capitol to one block south at 5th & Jackson.
Click here to view a map of the area.
The daytime transfer center will be back to its usual location at 5th & Capitol on Monday, September 28th.
Click here for more information about the Route 66 Mother Road Festival.
09/23/2015 Update:
The Night Service transfer center will also be moving to Jackson between 4th and 5th. This relocation will only apply to Friday, September 25th.
Update 9/15/15: Bus Stop A is up and running as usual this morning.
Original posting:
Attention SMTD Passengers:
Due to a water main break, 5th Street between Capitol and Jackson at the Downtown Transfer Center is closed. As a result, Bus Stop A is inaccessible.
Routes 10 - S. View/Laketown and 8 - 1st/Highland will be on 4th Street between Jackson & Capitol and may be double parked to pick up passengers. Route 14 - Wabash/Prairie Crossing will be at Bus Stop C on Capitol and inbound Route 2 - N. 9th will be detouring on 7th Street to get to the Transfer Center.
This post will be updated as new information becomes available.
The Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission has released a draft for the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for fiscal years 2016-2019 for public review.
