Blue Water Area Transit (BWAT) is the public transit operator serving
Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately.
Located along the St. Clair ...
and surrounding
St. Clair County. Operated by the Blue Water Area Transportation Commission (BWATC), the BWAT system includes fixed-route buses in the Port Huron area, plus commuter routes (connecting the city to
SMART in
Metro Detroit) and paratransit services. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday.
History
Following the cessation of private buses in Port Huron in 1968, BWAT commenced operations in 1976, with the assistance of neighboring
SEMTA.
BWAT began operating buses powered by
compressed natural gas in 1996, and soon held the largest alternative-fuel transit fleet in Michigan. The system's current fleet consists almost entirely of CNG-powered buses.
December 2015 saw the opening of the Blue Water Transit Bus Center in downtown Port Huron, which serves as the system's main hub. The $9.8 million facility includes a small store, as well as underground boilers to keep the sidewalks clear of snow and ice in the winter.
In 2021, BWAT acquired two
Proterra ZX5
The Proterra ZX5 is a battery electric bus that is built by American electric vehicle company, Proterra. Introduced in 2020, the bus is Proterra's primary product, and is the third generation of battery electric bus built by the company.
Hist ...
battery-electric buses, becoming the first Michigan transit agency since the 1970s to operate electric buses.
Routes
BWAT operates eleven fixed bus routes, using a fleet consisting mostly of
Gillig Low Floor,
ElDorado Axess
The ENC Axess is a line of low-floor transit buses available in 35' and 40' nominal lengths manufactured by ENC (formerly ElDorado National–California) in Riverside, California starting from 2003. In addition to the different available lengths ...
, and
ElDorado E-Z Rider buses.
Local routes
These routes operate from 6am-11pm Monday-Friday and 7:45am-11pm on Saturdays. Numbered routes begin and end at the Blue Water Transit Bus Center downtown.
*1 – Electric Ave
*2 – 24th Street
*3 – Sams Club transfer
*4 – Holland
*5 – Pine Grove/ Mall
*6 – Home Depot
*9 – Beard/Dove
*Shopper Shuttle (circulator through
Fort Gratiot Township, serving
Birchwood Mall
Birchwood Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in Fort Gratiot Township, outside the city of Port Huron, Michigan, United States. The Mall features more than 100 stores and a food court. The mall's anchor stores are CubeSmart, Dunham's Spor ...
and other retail stores)
*Blue Water Trolley (downtown
tourist trolley circulator, runs June-September)
Regional routes
These operate only on weekdays, connecting Port Huron to
Chesterfield Township in Macomb County, where connections are available to
SMART's route 560 and Gratiot FAST.
*
I-94 - express from Port Huron to Chesterfield, with intermediate stops at park-and-ride lots in
Marysville and
Casco; two trips each way in the morning, one trip each way in the evening.
*
M-29 - local service via Marysville,
St. Clair,
Marine City,
Algonac, and
New Baltimore; one trip each way in morning, and another in the evening.
Cost
*Adult fare - $.80
*Children 17 and under - $.65
*Senior/disabled - $.40
*Under 5 – free
References
External links
BWBus
{{Michigan public transit
Bus transportation in Michigan
Transportation in St. Clair County, Michigan
Port Huron, Michigan