Transit sees success, new bus added

North-Central Montana Transit is still going strong and is looking to the future for ways to expand their services to the people of the Hi-Line.

Jim Lyons, the director of NCMT, said the transit system is doing better than officials thought it would when they started five years ago.

The transit will soon be receiving a new bus, Lyons said. This bus will be better than what the NCMT currently runs, with under-the-carriage luggage storage, room for 37 passengers, power strips, Wi-Fi and a restroom.

Lyons said NCMT received the 2011 model bus for zero-match dollars, which essentially means they got it for free from the state. The bus would have cost NCMT around $195,000 if it was bought out-of-pocket.

"The new bus opens up a lot of opportunities," Lyons said.

As of Wednesday, Lyons said he was unsure of what line the bus would be run, but he had many ideas for the types of trips the people of the Hi-Line could take with it.

NCMT will hit its 100,000-rider mark this year, Lyons said. The success of the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line routes and general popularity of the transits' city-to-city routes has surpassed expectations of the Opportunity Link Inc. project.

The buses have given 13,283 rides to people going to and from the Boys & Girls Club since the route opened in 2010. The route runs only in a 62- to 65-day time frame in a year and averages 56 riders per day.

Lyons said they make sure they pick up the kids at the appropriate times during the summer to help out parents during their children's summer break from school.

"If you're a parent, your kids are taken care of," Lyons said.

The advent of the new in-town Havre route has brought NCMT success as well, Lyons said. The route took 237 passengers in December and 350 in January and February. The route's average ridership is nine people per day.

"The in-town route is meeting our expectations," Lyons said.

During a few-day period, when the winter brought extreme temperatures to Havre, NCMT offered their in-town services for free. Lyons said 58 people took advantage of the offer.

"Depending on extreme weather conditions, we will offer free rides in the future," Lyons said.

Though the numbers of riders per year have dropped slightly after rising consistently every year since NCMT was created, they are giving an average of 21,000 rides a year and 80 rides per day, which is well above the expectation of NCMT, Lyons said.

Lyons said one of the reasons NCMT is good at what they do is they make sure they are reliable and consistent with their scheduling, their buses are clean and disinfected every day and the buses' atmosphere is comfortable.

"It's safe, it's comfortable, it's reliable," Lyons said. "A lot of people view (the NCMT) as an essential service. ... It's been an interesting story. This has moved very quickly in five years."