SR Transit Adds Express Routes

Santa Rosa Transit Adds Express Routes -Service Offers Faster Ride to Work- 

Starting Monday, April 30, Santa Rosa Transit will offer morning, afternoon and evening limited-stop express routes to allow riders to reach their destinations between East Milton and Pensacola more quickly during peak travel times to and from work. The public transportation service, offered mainly along U.S. Hwy. 90 with a connection to the Escambia County Area Transit system at Nine Mile Road and University Parkway , previously took over two hours from start to finish. The new limited stop express route will take riders from East Milton to the ECAT stop on University Parkway in about one hour. A midday non-express service will continue similar to the previous service. Routes and time tables are available online at www.santarosa.fl.gov/transit .

The changes to the service were in response to the request by the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners to offer faster service in order to better accommodate those who may live but work in the other county.   The transit service will continue to operate Monday through Friday. Service changes included:

• The addition of an express service of 10 bus stop locations three times a day, from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s office to the University Pkwy. /9 mile Road ECAT connection.
• Elimination  of the  bus stops at the Blackwater Correctional Facility and state correctional institution in East Milton .
• The addition of two stops north to Rosasco Street in Milton and one stop south of U.S. Hwy. 90 to Walker Street in Milton .

The transit program is primarily designed to help residents with transportation needs to and from work, but also helps provide access to medical services, shopping and government offices throughout the day. In its second year of operations, monthly ridership has risen since service began in December 2010, from 167 to 771 in March 2012.

Santa Rosa Transit service is provided through the cooperation of the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners , Pensacola Bay Transportation LLC, the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization, and the Federal Transit Administration.   Santa Rosa County is the project manager, the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization procured the buses and is the federal grant recipient, and Pensacola Bay Transportation LLC is the operator.