By Jim Hayden
Correspondent
Bus ridership in Laketown Township continues to be strong with the Interurban Transit Authority picking up or dropping off 832 people township-wide in June.
It was the second month of the trial service in Laketown. In May, 833 people were either picked up or dropped off there.
“We continue to analyze Interurban usage data to determine when and how Laketown residents are using the service,” supervisor Steven Ringelberg said.
“The Interurban has been both more popular and supported than we anticipated,” he continued. “People seem to either think this is a great public service that should be subsidized by the township or not; there are not very many in the middle.”
Popular Laketown stops include Sand Castle Estates off 64th Street, the Creekwood area on 65th Street and 66th Street north of 140th Avenue, and the Shangrai-La Mobile Home Park, 6180 Blue Star Hwi.
The most popular dropoff locations are Douglas Elementary School, Saugatuck High School, the Lake Vista SuperValu grocery store in Douglas, downtown Saugatuck and Oval Beach.
Bus service began in Laketown May 1 for a trial period through Oct. 31. The goal is to collect data to provide the township board a factual basis to help determine whether it will support continuing the service after the test period.
Call (616) 335-3050 or send comments to office@laketowntwp.org.
The fare for a ride during standard hours is $1 for adults and 50 cents for children, seniors and those with disabilities.
Laketown is paying the Interurban $7 per ride to cover the Interurban’s expenses.
For May, the township paid $5,831 for 833 pick-ups and drop-offs. For June, it paid $5,824 for the 832 stops.
The $11,655 two-month total is more than half of the $20,000 budgeted to cover the transportation experiment set to run through October.
“If the popularity continues, the board will have to look at more funding, ending the service early or finding another funding source,” Ringelberg said.
People who want a ride call (269) 857-1418 and set a time for a bus to pick them up at their location, then take them to another spot in Laketown Township, Saugatuck Township, the cities of Douglas, Saugatuck or Fennville and the wineries in Ganges Township.
The Interurban also provides prescription delivery services from Saugatuck Drug Store, 201 Butler St., for $2 and food delivery services from many Saugatuck-Douglas restaurants for a $3 charge.
Regular bus service hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Extended hours in June, July and August include Friday and Saturday night until 11 p.m. $3 fare per adult.
For more on costs and other information, visit Saugatuckinterurban.org.
