This spring, METRO RTA will roll out the first phase of Driving METRO Forward with the addition of weekday evening trip times on two of METRO’s core routes.
Customers will see adjusted evening run times and additional trip times after the 6:20 p.m. line-up on Route #1, servicing West Market Street, and Route #2, servicing Arlington Road. Changes will go into effect Sunday, April 7, 2019.
“This additional service is in direct response to customer feedback we’ve collected through community outreach and will provide additional flexibility for trip planning along our highest ridership routes,” said Executive Director Dawn Distler. “Driving METRO Forward has morphed into a phased approach, with the focus on our long-term plan, and this is the first step in the process to better serve Summit County’s communities.”
In addition, there will be a minor change to Route #19 to serve Summa Akron City Hospital’s new “front door” by continuing down Forge Street to Adams Street, then turning on Hazel Street to North Arlington Street.
“One of our goals for Driving METRO Forward is to explore more public-private partnerships within the community, and we are excited about this public-private partnership with Summa that will provide a direct benefit to our customers as well as hospital patients, visitors, and employees,” Distler commented. “Summa also will lead the construction project of professionally designed waiting areas at two of our new ADA accessible bus stops, which will be a nice amenity for our passengers.”
The first phase of changes comes after METRO’s Board of Trustees approved an additional $1 million for service improvements to begin in 2019. With a portion of the funds being used to increase trip times on Routes #1 and #2, other initiatives included in Driving METRO Forward are:
- Streamline existing routes to provide better connections
- Explore more public-private partnerships for job access
- Implement a bus stop improvement program
- Redesign paper schedules and METRO’s system map
- Reconstruct the Independence Turnaround facility
Follow the link for more information about Driving METRO Forward, or to submit feedback regarding the bus network. View the spring schedules here.