August 8, 2017
Salina, Kansas – The bus stop times and locations for the 81 Connection fixed route service from Salina to Belleville have been announced.
The Kansas Rides 81 Connection will serve Highway 81 locations from Belleville to Salina with a tentative start date of September 5, 2017.
The 81 Connection bus service will have three bi-directional trips each day, Monday through Friday. The first route will start in Belleville at 6:45 a.m., then head south on Highway 81 to three stops in Concordia, a stop at the Highway 24/Highway 81 junction, a stop in Minneapolis and stop at 7th and Walnut and Walmart in Salina and then head back to north to the same stops. This route will do this loop twice and finish in Belleville around 5:40 p.m. each day.
A second route will leave Salina at 1:00 p.m. and head north on Highway 81 to the same stop in Minneapolis, the stop at the Highway 24/Highway 81 junction, three stops in Concordia and the stop in Belleville, before heading back to Salina with the same stops. The bus will finish in Salina around 6:00 p.m. each day.
The official times are here:
Poles and signs will be installed in the coming weeks at each of the stop locations.
The 81 Connection will be operated and managed by OCCK Transportation. Initial funding for the project came from the Earl Bane Foundation, who provide the 30% local match, as well as the Kansas Department of Transportation, who provided the remaining 70%.
“We are really excited about starting the 81 Connection and this is one more step in making that happen,” said Michelle Griffin, Mobility Manager for the region. “The goal of public transportation is to be efficient, affordable and effective. With this route, we hope to meet the needs of the citizens in north central Kansas who need to be able to travel from county to county for whatever reason.”
For more information about the 81 Connection and Kansas Rides, visit www.ksrides.org. For more information about OCCK, Inc., visit www.occk.com. For more information about CityGo and OCCK Transportation, visit www.salinacitygo.com. Or, contact Michelle Griffin, Mobility Manager (mgriffin@occk.com), or the OCCK Transportation Center at 785-826-1583.