Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Jefferson Express, providing affordable and easy transportation to and from Tallahassee, is now officially in business.
The bus shuttle service began in December, according to Big Bend Transit (BBT), which operates the program.
The fare is $1 per ride, regardless of the destination to or from Tallahassee, and includes free Wi-Fi. The bus service generally runs staggered hours from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 6 a.m. to 7 pm on Saturdays.
For a real-time schedule of the specific service hours and points of pick-up and drop-off in Monticello and in Tallahassee, call the BBT at (850) 574-6266 or visit BigBendTransit.org and download the RideBBT app.
Generally speaking, the pickup and drop-off points in Jefferson County are currently at the Winn Dixie in Monticello, the McDonald’s at I-10 and U.S. 19, and the Good Mart in Lloyd at I-10 and SR-59.
In Leon County, the pick-up and drop-off points are currently the Amazon facility, Walmart Store and C.K. Steele Plaza bus terminal in Tallahassee.
The bus service allows non-designated pick-ups and drop-off within three-quarter of a mile along the route, provided that the BBT is notified 24 hours in advance.
Shawn Mitchell, BBT branch manager, first informed Jefferson County officials of the planned bus shuttle service last July, saying that the idea was to help meet the transportation needs of local residents working in Tallahassee, particularly at the new Amazon facility.
“For folks who work in Tallahassee,” Mitchell told the Jefferson County Commission at the time. “Let’s say they get off at 5 p.m. Well, up to seven o’clock at night, there will be a bus leaving Tallahassee to get them back to Jefferson County.”
At the time he also said that if the Amazon facility went to a 24-hour schedule, it was possible that the shuttle service would be expanded to meet the demand.
“It’s going to be a living thing,” Mitchell said. “It’s not like it’s set in stone for any stop or route. We just want to make sure that we touch everywhere in the county that needs to be touched.”
The shuttle service, he said, was being made possible by a $500,160 grant to the BBT from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Which funding, he said, included monies for the establishment of sheltered bus stops, complete with trash receptacles, bike racks, and proper lighting for night and early morning hours.
“The money will be 100 percent reimbursable to Jefferson County,” Mitchell said. “So there will be no financial impact to the taxpayers of Jefferson County.”
The BBT, meanwhile, continues to provide its traditional local travel service, where clients can schedule pick-ups at their homes and be taken to and from various locations in the county for medical, shopping or other purposes.
“With gas prices the way they are now, we’re looking for an explosion of travel,” Mitchell predicted at the time. “Our expectation is that the more cost-effective the service proves, the greater will be its utilization.”
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