A topic at a Wednesday night work session was the expansion of the St. Joseph transit system. 

St. Joseph City Manager Bruce Woody said the City of St. Joseph’s transit service goes back a hundred years starting with trolleys and it has seen some changes through the years. Woody said during the work session the discussion revolved around changes needing to be made to the current transit system. 

“I think the only frustration we hear with any regularity from our riders is the length of time between bus rides, the length of time it takes to get all the way across town particularly if you have to change buses,” Woody said. “For the most part, the time between buses is about an hour. We refer to that in the industry as the headways, the distances between buses.” 

Woody said an idea was pitched to the city council about alleviating some of the frustrations. 

“At the work session they supported the notion of adding additional buses and staff to be able to decrease those headways during the peak hours of the morning and the late evening when people are going predominantly to and from work.” 

Woody said it will cost an estimated $2.6 million to buy an additional seven buses and there would also be an increase of operating costs. If everything is approved to move forward with the changes, it could be an 18 to 24 month wait after the buses are ordered.