“This has been identified as one of Atrium’s top 10 goals for 2015,” Adkins said. “One of the benefits is being able to help out one of our larger employers.”
Adkins said the city’s “Red Line” transit bus does not operate frequently enough to get people to their destinations each day.
Matt Dutkevicz, assistant general manager of the Butler County Regional Transit Authority, presented a preliminary plan to Middletown City Council to address that need expressed by Atrium officials for a shuttle to provide service every 15 minutes.
BCRTA, the agency contracted by the city to operate the Middletown Transit Service, said proposed stops would include the Dayton Children’s Specialty Center - Warren County and the Atrium YMCA. The route would also pass the Greentree Health Science Academy, the Art and Ann Bidwell Surgery Center and the VA Clinic across Union Road from the campus.
In addition, he said it would also allow flag stops in between the set shuttle stops on the route and connect with Middletown Transit Service’s Red Line back to the downtown area.
Dutkevicz said the proposed service would match the MTS schedule and would operate from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays. There would be no service on Sundays or holidays.
“That mirrors the current Middletown Transit Service hours and would tie in well with the existing connections available on the Red Line traveling to and from the (downtown) hub and back to Atrium,” Dutkevicz said.
Dutkevicz said BCRTA already has sufficient buses available to operate the proposed shuttle. He said it would cost an estimated $192,400 a year in additional operating costs for the proposed shuttle service.
Adkins said the city has unused funding from existing federal grants that could be used to help Atrium partially fund the service. The city and Atrium would still need to negotiate how much of the total cost each would bear, he said.
Adkins also said that it would take a few months after the proposed service starts to determine ridership and if the shuttle schedule would have to be adjusted. He said any fares that charged for the shuttle service would be negotiated as part of the agreement with Atrium.
“I believe their initial idea was that it would be free for Atrium customers, but we have not discussed potential fares for this proposal to this point,” he said.
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