The Bus, also referred to occasionally as CU Transit, is a

public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...

system in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, United States. The service is provided by the transit division of the

City Utilities of Springfield City Utilities of Springfield (CU) is a community-owned utility serving southwest Missouri with electricity, natural gas, water, telecommunications and transit services. CU provides service to over 106,000 customers. CU is responsible for the ge ...

, who also provide

paratransit Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...

under the name Access Express.

History

In 1945, Springfield City Council voted unanimously to purchase of the privately owned Springfield Gas and Electric Company, also the operator of the city transit system. This transaction created City Utilities and subsequently CU Transit. Springfield's transit system remains one of the few in the United States to be operated through a city utility company.

Transit centers

The Bus has had 2

transit centers Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1980 film), a 1980 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (1986 film), a Canadian short film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countrie ...

in its lifetime. The first was built in 1981 on McDaniel Street and Patton Avenue. It operated from 1981 until May 9, 2016, where operations moved to the new transit center on College and Main. The first transit center was then abandoned until its demolition on March 29, 2017. Talk about a new transit center began in the early 2000s, transit officials expressed the need for a new transit center due to lack of space, preventing expansion and being too small for buses themselves. Planning begun in 2006 after the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

provided $1.63 million for the new facility and $1.47 million in 2008. A site for the location on Collage and Main was chosen in September 2012 and bought in October of that year. The new CU Transit Center, costing $4.4 million, had a ribbon cutting ceremony in the morning of May 6, 2016. The station began bus service starting with weekend service on May 8 and full weekday service operations on May 9. The introduction of the new transit center also brought a complete overhaul of the bus routes. On November 14, 2022,

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

moved all operations into the CU Transit Center.

Fares

The bus operates on

flat rate A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of u ...

fare system that costs an adult $1.00 for a single ride with a 25-cent surcharge for transfers. Discounted fares are offered for youth passengers and those that are senior citizens, disabled, or have Medicare. Fares are also offered in bulk ticket books as well as daily, weekly, monthly, and semester passes. Fares can be paid through several payment methods: * Token Transit, an app for Electronic tickets on public transit. *

Smart cards A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an Embedded system, embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart ...

, obtainable via a Ticket-vending machine or the transit center * On the bus itself (with cash) * Physical ticket bought at transit center Mobile Electronic tickets and

that could be bought at the transit center or with new Ticket-vending machines were introduced on February 23, 2018. Smart cards can only be used with 7 or 31 day passes in any fare tier, there is $1 fee for a smart card but they can be reloaded indefinitely.

Routes

Fleet and Depot

City Utilities currently owns a total of 33 buses. This consists of 31 buses in the active fleet and two buses in the contingency fleet. All buses operate out of the City Utilities Vehicle Maintenance building, once used by

Springfield Traction Company Springfield Traction Company was a company that operated surface Horse, Steam, and Electric Trams and Streetcars A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock ...

streetcars.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bus (Springfield, Missouri) Bus transportation in Missouri Transportation in Springfield, Missouri