Sioux Falls’ new transit plan starts this week offering new routes, lower wait times, and more coverage for the area.
The Sioux Area Metro, or SAM, Reimagined Plan brings nine new bus routes to the area. The transit system is operated by Via who said the new routes help cover more than double the previous public transit routes.
Paul TenHaken is the mayor of Sioux Falls. He said the new routes give him hope for the future of transportation in the city.
“It’s still a wicked problem. We still have things we need to improve. We haven’t spiked the football and said ’alright, transits solved, so let’s go on to the next thing.’ There’s things we are going to keep doing better and things I know we need to improve on, but, we’ve already seen over a thousand rides a week that are using on-demand, 220 a day," said TenHaken. "And a lot of this on-demand service is coming from parts of our community that didn’t have transit service before. So, they are adopting it for the first time because they are like, 'finally the city is getting out to areas that need it.'”
The new routes pair with the recently expanded SAM On-Demand service and paratransit upgrades. The routes are color coded instead of numbered to assist in the “reimagining” of the system.
Via representatives said five of the nine new bus routes have shown to have the ability to run every 30 minutes, even at peak times.
Emily Shapiro is an Operations Director for Via. She said the new plan will be constantly worked to best serve the area.
“We’re open to feedback, open to hearing how the community feels about these bus routes. We’re also going to continue to look at the data. We’ve looked at ridership patterns from the past, we’ve looked at population growth, we’ve looked at all of the different patterns here in Sioux Falls. We’re going to continue to do so and continue to integrate on these routes and on the plan. To make sure public transit stays relevant, and best meets the needs of the community today and for years to come,” said Shapiro.
Bus service is now available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Anyone interested in using the new on-demand service can find the SAM Transit app on Google Play or the App Store.
