What’s happening?
The DCTA is implementing service changes Aug. 19 that will see frequency and hours of service increased for the Connect Bus service in Denton, according to a news release. The agency aims to use the Connect Bus to serve all trip demand near routes 3, 6 and 7.
GoZone riders beginning or ending their trips near either of those routes will be directed to the Connect Bus instead. The service change frees up additional resources for GoZone in Lewisville and Highland Village.
Additional resources means increasing the capacity to deliver more rides in both areas, CEO Paul Cristina said in a statement.
“We have seen GoZone demand increase in Highland Village and Lewisville, so additional GoZone capacity in those areas enable us to maintain our high quality of service and provide additional rides to even more customers,” he said.
For more Information about the upcoming service changes, go to www.dcta.net/service-updates.
Looking back
Austin Frith, vice president of planning and development, reviewed the upcoming service changes during a July 25 board of directors meeting. Once the service changes are implemented, staff will be monitoring GoZone’s performance across the network, Frith said.
“We’ll be reporting out at our monthly board meetings how we see that change happening and making real-time adjustments to make sure that we’re allocating the right resources based on that change,” he said.
After the service changes go into effect, staff will be focused on a second phase of service changes, Christina said. The second phase is scheduled to launch during summer 2025, he said.
Quote of note
“The first phase of the intermediate service plan allows greater frequency on our Connect Bus route service, providing better connections to our other modes,” Frith said in a statement. “This equates to a better rider experience, with less wait times and a more consistent and reliable transit network.”
By the numbers
Ridership on the Connect Bus is up 70.4% through June this year while GoZone ridership is up 2.4%, according to data from the DCTA.Ridership overall through June is 15.9% higher compared to last year with nearly 2.5 million riders reported. Visit www.dcta.net/dashboard for more data measuring DCTA’s ridership performance.
