MCAT Adding Bus Route in Palmetto
By Carl Mario Nudi, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Feb. 4–PALMETTO — In a few months, bus riders will be able to get around this city north of the Manatee River and adjacent neighborhoods faster and easier.
The Manatee County Area Transit bus route, the only one north of the river, will be split into two around April, according to the bus system manager, Ralf Heseler.
“We decided to make the changes because of the growth in the area. Route 1 became tremendously late on a consistent basis and was missing its connection with Route 99,” Heseler said.
Route 1 now runs from the Prime Outlets shopping area in Ellenton to the Manatee County Fairgrounds on 17th Street West in Palmetto.
At the fairgrounds, riders can transfer to Route 99 and travel as far south as Sarasota for the dollar paid at Prime Outlets.
What delayed the Route 1 bus at times was the circuitous route it has to take through Palmetto and the communities of Washington Park and Memphis before it reaches the fairground transfer point.
To ease that problem, a new Route 13 will be established, which will basically separate many of the neighborhood stops from Route 1 and make it a direct run from the shopping area to the transfer point.
The changes also will include expanded service areas, Heseler said.
“We get requests to serve other areas north of the Manatee River, such as the west side of Palmetto and Victory Road (near Colony Cove), so here was an opportunity to fill those needs,” he said.
Although the funding for the route changes is in this year’s budget, there may be a question about future years.
“We don’t know what the effect of Amendment 1 will be,” said Fred Loveland, director of the county community services department, which includes MCAT. “That will be something we will have to look at.”
On Tuesday, Florida voters approved the state constitutional amendment, which reduces property taxes by an estimated $240 per homeowner.
One area where funding will not be an issue is the new transfer station that will be constructed on Eighth Avenue West and 19th Street West in Palmetto.
The $1.2 million project will shift the transfer point from the fairgrounds to the new facility sometime early 2009.
State grant funds will pay for the project.
Expanding the bus routes sounds good to Rhaland Brewer.
Brewer said he has been riding the bus since he was a child.
“I don’t own a car, but if I did I would still use the bus, especially with the price of gas so high,” said the 37-year-old. “It’s convenient.”
He takes the bus from the Memphis community to the jobs training center in east Bradenton, having to transfer twice.
“I would recommend people ride the bus more,” Brewer said. “It gets you to most places you need to go.”
Route 1 bus driver Aquanette Boston said she welcomes the changes because it will provide better service to her riders.
“I want people to utilize the bus system, especially on their days off,” Boston said. “Why use your car when you can save gas, and there would be less wear and tear on the roads?
“The county spends lots of money every year on road repairs,” she added.
Boston has been driving a bus for MCAT since 1999 and on Route 1 for seven years.
“I love this route; I get to see the regular bus riders and when the tourists come, like from Spain or Sweden, I get to talk to them,” she said. “It’s different than just having a job and doing your job. I love what I do.”
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