At the February 2023 meeting of the Bloomington Public Transportation Corporation (BPTC or BT) Board of Directors, agency staff announced the expansion of Sunday bus services, effective March 26th. The expansion of service is made possible by additional funds raised through the local income tax (LIT), and follows years of requests from riders to provide service seven days a week. The expansion will add hourly service on five routes: 2 West, 2 South, 3 East, 3 West, and 7 South between 8:30am-5:30pm. To inaugurate the new service, all buses on Sunday will operate fare-free for the first month until April 30th.
The additional LIT revenue, approved by the Bloomington Common Council in 2022, is being directed to projects throughout the city that address public safety, climate change preparedness and mitigation, equity and quality of life for all, and essential city services. In consultation with the City of Bloomington, BT identified several major transit projects that will advance these goals. In addition to the expansion of Sunday bus service, projects include: raising service frequency on all routes to a minimum of every thirty minutes, expanding eligibility for discount fare programs, and the implementation of a high-frequency transit corridor spanning east-west, known internally as the “Green Line.”
Sunday bus service will mark the second project to be implemented by BT that has been earmarked for additional funds raised through the LIT increase. BT has already leveraged over $1 million of LIT-raised funds as local match to a federal grant totaling over $7 million for the purchase of eight battery-electric vehicles. The eight vehicles will position the agency to reach its objective of operating a 60 percent battery-electric fleet by 2030.
Additional revenue raised through the LIT and directed to BT promises to greatly enhance access to reliable, convenient transit service for everyone in the community. The additional funds are well timed to support the goals established by BT in its newly completed strategic plan. The shortage of bus operators remains a limiting factor for the transit agency, but BT seeks to roll out further service expansions—including Sunday service on all routes and increased weekday frequencies—later in 2023.
To read BT’s new strategic plan, Transform BT, visit bloomingtontransit.com/transformbt. To view current career opportunities at the growing agency, visit bloomingtontransit.com/careers.