Wichita Transit will hold public meetings seeking input for planned west side service improvements. The meetings will be held:
- 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29, Wichita Transit Center, 214 S. Topeka
- 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, Northwest High School, 1220 N. Tyler
The input will help Wichita Transit fine tune planned bus routes on the west side of Wichita. The bus routes involve the following:
- West Maple route extension - Current plans anticipate the extension of the West Maple route from its current end point of West Maple and Tyler to serve the New Market Square retail area at 21st street and Maize.
- West Central route - Wichita Transit anticipates the introduction of a new West Central route that would operate from downtown Wichita via Central and 21st street to the New Market Square shopping area.
- Neighborhood feeder services - Some neighborhoods in the City’s west side will receive new neighborhood feeder service. The service would employ small buses that circulate through neighborhoods to pick people up close to their homes and transport them to the nearest bus stop.
“Public input is important in order to help us design routes and services that meet the public’s needs,” Wichita Transit Director Steve Spade said. “These sessions will allow people to tell us exactly where they want to go and when. It will also help us determine the operating hours of the neighborhood feeder services.”
These service improvements use Federal Transit Administration funds provided in a grant from the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The grant provides three years of funding for service improvements on the west side.
Wichita Transit will finalize route service details in December and service will kick off in March of 2014.
