By Scott Sullivan
Editor
In Saugatuck-Douglas the blue buses are ubiquitous. Starting soon the Interurban Transit Authority’s fleet will be venturing further into Fennville, Laketown Township and Glenn reaching to South Haven from expanded offices.
The low-cost — 50 cents for children under 12 and seniors, $1 for others — ride service is a life ring for those who can’t drive themselves. The blue buses with wheelchair lifts take people to and from doctors’ appointments, school, the post office, drug and grocery stores and back.
Mobility means independence, self-sufficiency and dignity.
The Interurban started May 8, 1980 after local government leader Phil Quade sought and won a state/federal grant that covered almost all the service’s first 2-year costs. It was matched by $333 each from Douglas and Saugatuck villages and township.
The start-up dispatched buses from a remodeled closet in Saugatuck’s Village Hall. Director Cheri Giller’s office was at Kalamazoo Lake Sewer & Water Authority headquarters and two buses were based at Blue Star Storage.
The Interurban carried 29,000 passengers that first year and growth has been steady since. In 1982 the service passed its first millage for .75 mills. Voters upped that to 1 mill from 1987 to 1998, then dropped it to the .5 mills it is today.
In 1990 the Interurban built its current office/garage at 100 Wiley Road, near Water Street and Douglas Public Works garages.
Hours and ridership have near tripled. The service carried a record 74,594 passengers during its most-recent fiscal year. It now has eight buses plus a 20 full- and part-time staff. Expansion means two new part-time drivers already hired plus two seasonals yet to come.
The City of Fennville has ponied up $3,000 a year for a two-year pilot program bringing the blue buses to its residents. They can hop up for rides across the street from the post office, behind Wagoner’s Grocery at the Ladders of Hope Food Pantry.
Looking for opportunities? Jobs in Saugatuck, Douglas or elsewhere nearby? They’re there!
Laketown March 12 passed a 2025-26 fiscal year budget including $21,000 for its four-month pilot program bringing Interurban service (just call or text) to and from people’s doorsteps to Holland and back, plus more. It will run May 1 through Sept. 30
It helps that new township supervisor and interim manager Steve Ringelberg “is very pro public transit,” Interurban head Becky Carten-Crandell says.
Ganges Township signed a two-year contract to offer services to and from Fenn Valley Winery, Virtue Cider. The cost will be $5 per ride.
Don’t forget south to South Haven via rendezvous between Interurban and Van Buren County Star Transit buses.
May Day is when all the new contracts start.
Big steps serve big needs. Another, Carten-Crandell says, will be adding 300 square feet — a second bathroom and conference break rooms — to the now cramped and aging headquarters.
“It’s pretty spartan here now,” she says. “Under past director Phyllis Yff we found federal funds, administered through the state to, expand and, if all goes well, might see them by this September …”
Meanwhile, in a pinch, out back is where staff go.
Carten-Crandell didn’t take shortcuts to being transit queen here. She grew up in Plainwell, studied sociology at U Cal-Berkeley, came home to earn a B.S. in political science from Michigan State and almost since then driven lakeshore roads.
She’s transported Saugatuck school kids to seniors and on March 29, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Holland) to tour lakeshore washout sites.
“We had time to discuss the impact of federal budget cuts on everyday people’s needs, Carten-Crandell says.
Last spring she succeeded Yff (as in “knife) as the Interurban’s third-ever director. Gillis served 25 years, Yff 10 before retiring.
“This work gets in your blood,” says Carten-Crandell. “We’ve got driver/dispatchers who stay for decades, and their passengers are like family.”
Oh, the stories these roads can tell. To where next? “There’s still growth to be had,” Carten-Crandell says. “We have to evolve if we’re going to stick around.”
With state and federal program funds in limbo and bus costs rocketing, the Interurban board plans in November 2026 to ask taxpayers for 1 mill, up from .5 mills, a restoration of sorts, to maintain and increase its service.
“We’re all about transparency here,” Carten-Crandell says. “Come go for a ride; you can see yourself.”
