By Emily Williams
A bus will be shuttling people around Mountain Brook on a new route beginning Nov. 5, at least for a trial period.
The Spartan Shuttle will travel on a loop from English Village to Mountain Brook Village and then Crestline Village before returning to English Village. The bus will run Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. until about 8 p.m.
The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority will be conducting a three-month trial of the new route, run by MAX Transit, to test its success as an alternate method of transportation.
In a recent town hall meeting, Joshua Johnson, a representative of the BJCTA, said the authority has done its best to set a route through high-density areas while keeping passenger wait times as short as possible.
“The headway – which is the time between stops – is every 35 minutes. That’s kind of a conservative guess right now, but I think hopefully we can get it down to 30 minutes once it’s up and running,” said Johnson.
One bus will be traveling on the route during the trial. It will be a 35-foot bus that is ADA-compliant and includes bike racks.
The bus will be free to ride, Johnson said.
“If it’s free, it’s just easier to hop on in. It’s more convenient and you don’t have to worry, ‘Do I buy a ticket?’ or ‘Do they take debit cards or only cash?’” he said.
The bus will make about 25 stops along its route, at least three of them at park-and-ride stops. Park-and-ride lots will be designated areas for all-day parking in Office Park, with a stop near the fountain; at Mountain Brook Baptist Church; and at Shades Valley Presbyterian Church, which is within walking distance to one of the Mountain Brook Village stops.
City manager Sam Gaston said during the meeting that there are all-day parking spots available in English Village, but he will look into allocating all-day parking spots in Crestline Village.
The major stops along the route will include, in order, English Village, the Birmingham Zoo, Office Park, Mountain Brook Baptist Church, Crestline Village, the Grand Bohemian Mountain Brook and then English Village once more.
“We wanted to get some residential stops too because Mountain Brook has a really good sidewalk network and it’s pretty easy to get around on foot,” he said.
Johnson noted that the 7.65-mile route would cost the city $158,000 per year. He said grant funds could reduce the city’s costs if the trial proves that the bus cuts down on traffic.
Johnson said that MAX will look at ridership data to determine whether the route will be continued after the trial and, if so, whether there are opportunities to extend the route.
“Really anything off of this (route), the way it is now, would make it that 40-minute wait,” Johnson said. “We’ve got enough routes that are slow and I don’t want to make this one of them.”
Johnson said it could be possible to add a second bus to the route to cut down on wait times or to extend the route. Possibilities include connecting to other routes such as Montclair Road and the Magic City Connector in downtown Homewood, or adding stops at Brookwood Village.
Passengers will be able to use MAX Transit’s My Stop app, which provides up-to-date information on where the bus is stopping next, how long the wait should be at each stop and how many passengers are on the bus.
The new Spartan Shuttle will make a preview appearance on the streets of Crestline Village for the annual Mystics of Mountain Brook Halloween parade on Oct. 31.
