Minot Bus Survey | Video

Amy Fox | 1/16/2013

In 2012, Minot city buses provided 137,000 rides, which is up ten percent from 2011. With the population expected to grow, Minot hired a firm to help give the system a major face lift. Minot`s public bus system operates Monday through Friday during standard business hours. However, with the increase in riders, the current system isn’t running as smoothly as it used to.

"The population is growing so fast,” said Minot Public Transit Superintendent Brian Horinka. “So, we have a lot of people coming from communities that have better transit systems than we currently have, and we’re just trying to get out there a provide the best services we can."

In order to keep up with the growing population, the city hired Nelson and Nygaard Consulting Associates to conduct a survey on the current situation. "Basically, what we`re doing is talking to the community and getting a sense of what the needs and priorities are and what they would like to see for transit,” explains Paul Lutey, Nelson and Nygaard Consulting Associates Principal.

Whether it’s struggling with hours of operation or adapting routes for new neighborhoods. Throughout the next couple of months, the consulting firm is looking at everything to come up with a new and improved transportation system. "What we are doing is developing a plan the city can grow into over time,” said Lutey. “And, we know development is coming and changing, and we`re not exactly sure where that is going to happen."

Once the data is collected from the bus routes, the consultants will put together a plan, and from there, the city wants public input. Horinka said, "We need citizens from the community from as diverse of a population as we can, so that we can find out what people would like to see and what they would like to do."

While this is only the first step in the process, the city transit hopes to better meet the needs of the people. "There are some challenges in Minot that weren`t there before, and we think we can relate to increased transit ridership if we can grow the system to allow it to fit a lot of peoples schedules,” said Horinka.

Once a plan is drafted, Horinka says the city will have several public forums in the spring.

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