Pace brings better transit to the Aurora area, effective October 26

Pace Image Highlights include improved service frequency and hours of service Beginning October 26, transit riders in the Aurora area will begin using an all-new service model that they helped to design. Pace conducted intensive research and held multiple rounds of public feedback sessions to make a series of service revisions designed around what riders said they wanted: bus routes that operate more frequently, later at night and that travels to newly developed retail destinations around the area. The new service is predicated on maximizing service to the destinations with the highest demand for travel. New destinations include the Walmart Supercenter near Kirk and Butterfield roads and the Woodman’s on Orchard Road. Two new routes will be added, Route 540 Farnsworth Road and the Southeast Aurora Call-n-Ride, which provides reservation-based service to the general public anywhere within a defined geographic area. Five other current routes will have adjustments to both their timing and routing, and two others will have timing adjustments only. Three routes will be eliminated, though key segments and destinations on those routes will continue to be served by new routes or modifications to current routes. Complete details, including system maps and individual passenger notices describing changes for each route, are available at PaceBus.com. A second phase of service improvements primarily operating on or near Route 59, are planned for implementation in early 2016. The service changes will be promoted to riders in a number of ways, including notices posted on buses and at the Aurora Transportation Center, and Pace staff will serve as “transit ambassadors” to guide riders and answer questions at select locations. Additionally booklets providing the new maps and schedule information for each route in the area will be distributed on buses and through the transit ambassador campaign. Pace regularly evaluates the performance of individual bus routes to determine the need for minor routing changes or scheduling adjustments, but periodically, opportunities are presented to make a series of service changes to routes in a particular area. The RTA provided funding for a market research study about Pace usage in the Aurora area, and the results identified opportunities to improve service to Aurora’s Hispanic community and found that riders and non-riders would increase their use of Pace if service frequency and span are improved.