The Sarasota
County Area Transit plans to launch Sunday hours, extended evening and
late-night hours on several routes, as well as schedule and routing
changes on four routes, the county government said. The service will
begin March 2.
“Many of our transit riders have been asking for
seven-day-a-week service that extends into the evening and late night,”
said SCAT General Manager Anthony Beckford said in an e-mail.
The new and improved services are:
Sundays: SCAT will operate a limited system on Sundays
based on combinations of familiar routes. The system will operate at
reduced frequencies from approximately 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday
service will be provided on Route 12 (North Lockwood), Route 18
(Longboat), Route 1713 (Trail-Venice-Jacaranda), Route 8517
(Tallevast-SMH), Route 1411 (Lake Sarasota-Siesta Key) and Route 215
(Cocoanut-University).
Late-night service: Three buses will depart the
Downtown Transfer Station at First Street and Lemon Avenue at 11:30
p.m., seven days a week, serving four routes: Route 2 (Cocoanut
Avenue), Route 12 (North Lockwood), Route 17 (Trail) and Route 14 (Bee
Ridge).
Evening service: The following routes will have
expanded hours into the evening Monday-Saturday: Route 2 (Cocoanut
Avenue), Route 6 (Beneva), Route 7 (Newtown Northeast), Route 8
(Newtown 301), Route 12 (North Lockwood), Route 14 (Bee Ridge), Route
17 (Trail) and Route 18 (Longboat).
Schedule and routing changes also will take effect on four routes. They are:
The current Route 1 (Fruitville) will be split into two
routes between the Downtown Transfer Station and the Sarasota
International Trade Center east of Interstate 75. This change will
provide new frequent service during peak morning and afternoon hours
between downtown Sarasota and Packinghouse Road (as the new Route 1 or
Fruitville) and new two-way service on Bahia Vista Street and McIntosh
Road (as the new Route 1A or Fruitville via McIntosh).
Route 15 (Airport-Cattlemen) will have Saturday service
reduced to every 90 minutes. Frequency will remain at 60 minutes
Monday-Friday.
Route 21 (Englewood Loop) will become a flexible route
operating from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Advance
reservations will be required for passengers traveling off the regular
route, and can be made by calling 941-861-1046.
Route 25 (Bird Bay) will remove service to Bay Indies, but will serve a wider area of Bird Bay.
Also, coming this spring, SCAT plans to start a new Ride Guide. It
will have all the new and existing services, maps and timetables in a
pocket guide that will replace the current north and south schedules.
For information on the changes call 941-861-5000 or visit www.scgov.net/SCAT .
http://www.sun-herald.com/breakingnews.cfm?id=4836
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