By Christin Nance Lazerus, Post-Tribune staff writer
MERRILLVILLE -- The Regional Bus Authority marked the start of enhanced Gary Public Transportation Corp. bus services with a ribbon-cutting event at The Methodist Hospitals in Merrillville on Wednesday.
The improvements consist of buses running three routes more frequently and allowing better connections with existing routes.
RBA project manager Ken Dallmeyer said the Broadway route, which serves Gary, Merrillville and Crown Point, will run as an express bus with 30 minutes between buses, as opposed to 40 minutes until late evening. In the evenings and on weekends, buses will run on an hourly basis.
The Tri-City route, which serves Gary, East Chicago and Hammond, will add another bus to the route, thereby decreasing wait time from two hours to one.
The U.S. 30 route that services Merrillville and Hobart will have the same level of service, but times will be adjusted to allow for connections with the Broadway Express.
The RBA is funding the routes for $1.5 million a year.
Executive Director Tim Brown said the RBA and GPTC are conservatively hoping for a 10 percent increase in ridership due to the changes. The GPTC currently serves 200,000 passengers a year.
"Hopefully, this will lead to regional routes throughout Lake and Porter counties," Brown said. "It's the start of what we hope will be a truly regional bus system."