At close to 1,000 square miles, Augusta County is not the easiest place to offer public transportation. But even if you live in a rural area, Virginia Regional Transit (VRT) might have a new option for your daily commute.
The fleet of VRT buses already link Staunton, Waynesboro and Blue Ridge Community College. Other parts of Augusta had access only by appointment. The on-demand service was only reaching about 150 people a month, so Augusta County asked for the 340 Connector.
VRT believes it can make true public transportation work, even in Augusta's wide-open spaces. The new 340 Connector replaces an on-demand service in the eastern half the county.
John Maher of VRT said, "It was hard to get ridership out of that because of the vastness of the county and the fact that we only went to one section one day of the week."
The 340 Connector links shopping centers and apartment complexes from Stuarts Draft to Grottoes and Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. The twice-every-weekday route came at the request of Augusta County, and not just for convenience.
Dennis Burnett of Augusta County Economic Development said, "From an economic development standpoint, we're submitting projects and we're attracting people from outside the area. It's a common question as to what type of public transportation we have."
The route quietly launched in November but the distinctive "CATS" vans are still often carrying just one or two people at a time. Maher said, "A lot of people still don't know we're even running the service."
VRT hopes mailers will change that. They've gone out to thousands of people who live near the 340 Connector's route.
Maher stated, "I would like to see it go through the roof. Right now our ridership over all the other systems, all the other routes, it's just doing phenomenally well."
Ridership on other VRT routes, like the 250 Connector and the Waynesboro Circulator, has doubled over the past six years. Click here for maps and pickup times on the new 340 Connector.
