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Effective Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Sunday, March 29, 2020/Categories: General

  • Effective Tuesday, March 31, 2020 additional service reductions will begin
  • SMART ridership has dropped 80% over the past several weeks
  • Service Reductions include:
    • Frequency is hourly at a minimum for all routes
    • Woodward, Gratiot, and Michigan, FAST and local routes will alternate every 30 minutes.
    • Commuter and Park & Ride Routes will operate only one trip into downtown in the morning and only one trip out of downtown in the afternoon
    • SMART Shuttles and the Farmington/Farmington Hills Dial A Ride service will not operate. Contact SMART Connector for essential trips.SMART Shuttles and the Farmington/Farmington Hills Dial A Ride service will not operate. Contact SMART Connector for essential trips.
    • Hours of operation will be consistent with the length of weekday service hours
  • Updates on SMART service can be found at www.smartbus.org.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, SMART is committed to providing service for those who have no other alternative transportation to make essential trips to work, grocery stores and for necessary, schedule appointments such as dialysis treatments. SMART is identified as ‘critical infrastructure’ and its employees deemed essential workers in the Governor’s Executive Order 2020-21 to Stay Home, Stay Safe.

SMART is implementing further service reductions starting Tuesday, March 31, 2020 as a way to better match service on the road with the reduced demand. As ridership is significantly lower at 80% less than a typical weekday, SMART will reduce service an additional 40%.  Since SMART implemented the initial 30% reduction last week, ridership has leveled off and remains steady.

  • Busy corridors like Woodward, Gratiot, and Michigan which includes, FAST and local routes, will run staggered every hour; meaning FAST and local routes will alternate every 30 minutes.
  • Weekday routes will operate hourly (time between buses) service with similar hours of operation as regular weekday service.
  • Commuter and Park & Ride routes will run one trip into downtown in the morning and one trip out of downtown in the afternoon. Ridership on these routes has dramatically fallen on these routes, averaging a 95% decline from typical weekday ridership.
  • Elimination of SMART same day services, including Groesbeck Shuttle, Somerset and Oakland Mall Shuttles as well as the Farmington/Farmington Hills Dial A Ride.  Anyone needing ride in these areas should call SMART Connector to reserve a trip at 866-962-5515 and press #1.

New Schedule Lookup:

Schedule Lookup 

Read the full press release below:

Tuesday, March 31 SMART will cut service as COVID-19 impacts ridership

 

 

 

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