News you can use
News you can use
Members of the North Central Montana Transit system pose with one of the transit buses in this 2012 photo. NCMT is exploring the possibility of a Havre city bus line.
The organizers of the North Central Montana Transit bus line are considering kickstarting a bus route through Havre, depending on the community's response to the idea.
Jim Lyons, the director of transportation for the transit system, said the idea of the new route is to provide transportation in Havre throughout the day.
Samantha Rybicki, the information and outreach manager, said this could be a great thing for the businesses of Havre, especially downtown.
"We'll have more people in the downtown area, boosting the economy ...," Rybicki said. "It has the potential to be a big win-win situation between the businesses and the (NCMT)."
Lyons and Rybicki said Wednesday that they are trying to find out whether there is a need or desire for this new bus route.
The route would run Monday through Friday, and they would consider running the buses Saturdays as well if the demand turned out to be high enough.
Tickets would cost $1 for those who want to ride the Havre line. The line would begin at 11 a.m. at the bus barn, where the buses are stationed when they're not in use, and run until it reaches the Atrium Mall at noon, stopping at hotspots like Gary & Leo's, Fresh Foods, Montana State University-Northern, Northern Montana Hospital, Holiday Village Mall, Walmart and others along the way.
A reverse route would begin at 1 p.m., starting at the Atrium.
"We are surveying contacts within our already-established network, using our Facebook page to make inquiries, and polling current riders to measure interest," a press release from NCMT says. "However, the more feedback we have, the better informed we are of what our Hi-Line residents want, and the better we can serve their needs."
"We don't want to run empty buses," Lyons said. "We just have to see what the people want (before we start)."
Rybicki said the line would be perfect for college students who came to Havre without transportation, or for anyone who wants to escape the winter weather and catch a ride on a warm bus instead of risking their own vehicle.
The NCMT bus line was launched in August 2009 and has seen nothing but success, according to a press release from Opportunity Link Inc., which began the project.
In the transit's first year of operation, the buses provided 18,136 rides; well above their projection of 2,000 to 4,000.
The NCMT provides bus routes between Great Falls, Box Elder, Laredo, Havre, Chinook, Harlem and Fort Belknap.
The Great Falls route, which runs from as far as Fort Belknap, has a $10 fare for a one-way ticket and a $20 fare for a round-trip.
The Havre-to-Rocky Boy and Fort Belknap-to-Havre routes are $1 per ticket in each direction. Tickets can be bought from the bus drivers.
For full, detailed information on the bus routes and where they stop, visit http://www.ncmtransit.org.
In addition to getting funding from Opportunity Link, the transit system is funded by MSU-Northern, Hill and Blaine counties, the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and the Fort Belknap Indian Community.
Anyone interested in giving NCMT feedback about the proposed Havre route or to express their support for it can do so on their Facebook page or can call 265-3699.
Reader Comments(3)
dsrobins writes:
As car use expanded and gas remained cheap, Intermountain's business dropped off. First they shut down their line east from Havre. Several local guys tried to replace it, some resorting to truck vans to provide the service. They all failed. The line west was also shut down, so the Hi-Line was left largely without intercity bus service when it was still badly needed, especially by native Americans.
11/07/2013, 7:49 pm
dsrobins writes:
Back in the 1950s, when I was a kid growing up in Havre, we had fairly decent regional bus service. Intermountain Bus Line, based in Anaconda, was the principal play. They covered most of the state, from Billings to Missoula via Bozeman and Butte. Their northern line went from Great Falls to Havre, and the branched west and east to Kalispell and Spokane, and east to Williston, MT. My dad ran the bus depot out of our hotel on First Street.
11/07/2013, 7:44 pm
Concerned writes:
While I think this is a good idea, I feel the organizers of the North Central Montana Transit should focus on a paratransit service first. There are many citizens in our community that are mostly homebound because they cannot afford an accessible vehicle. A paratransit service would open a lot of doors for the individuals who spend almost all of their time within the same four walls, day in and day out, without any hope of escape.
11/07/2013, 5:09 pm