BATA: New Traverse Express, extended hours on tap for Cherry Festival

Traverse City — BATA's new Traverse Express route will be rolled out just in time for the National Cherry Festival, offering participants even more incentive to park away from downtown and catch the bus to festival events.

The Traverse Express will circumnavigate the entire city every hour in two directions. Making stops at key locations around the community, the Traverse Express will ensure quick and predictable service by creating about a dozen new connections.

In additions, the existing Airport Road route will now connect with Grand Traverse Mall and the Cherryland Center routes. For the first time, it will also include regular stops at Cherry Capital Airport.

"BATA had business travelers in mind with the airport service linking public transit with air travel," said Transportation Servcies Manager Kurt Braun.

The new Traverse Express route is going to increase our connectivity with all fixed routes in town," added Derek McCombs, BATA Transportation Services Manager. "It eliminates a lot of the layovers and will double the amount of transfer points, which will give passengers more options.

"This is going to make it so much easier and quicker to get around town."

In addition, BATA Cherriot routes and the Traverse Express will operate on an extended schedule during festival week.

"Our last outbound run is normally 6:10 p.m., but we will be extending the last outbound run to 11:40 p.m. on week nights and 12:10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday," McCombs explained. "People will be able to park at outlying locations, and the Traverse Express route will get them downtown in 10 to 20 minutes. That way, they avoid parking hassles and traffic.

The new Traverse Express stops include the Dennos Museum Cneter, M-Tech, Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District at Aero Park, Cherryland Center, BATA South at Cass and Airport, the Grand Traverse Mall, Horizon Outlet Mall, Meijer, Tom's 14th Street and BATA's Hall Street Transfer Center.

BATA fixed route buses beging running each week day at 6:10 a.m. and weeknds at 8:10 a.m. For a complete schedule, phone BATA at 941-2324.