A fixed route around Charleston and Mattoon was started by Dial-a-Ride in October to provide a steady transportation service for residents.

Susan Starwalt, the administrative director of Dial-a-Ride, said the route has 10 stops in Charleston and 11 in Mattoon.

The bus will stop at major locations within and between the two cities.

“It’s a fixed route type of service, like what you’ll see in the larger cities like Champaign or Chicago,” Starwalt said. “We have designated bus stops, and they get around between Mattoon and Charleston.

She said the regular Dial-a-Ride service was not a fixed route, but it is door-to-door.

The bus will stop at the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, the LifeSpan Center, the Cross County Mall, the Mattoon CVS, the Amtrak Station, Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center and the Market Place, among others.

Starwalt said this service takes less time and planning for the person using it.

“A big benefit, especially for college students, is that they don’t have to make a reservation,” Starwalt said.

Starwalt said many students have been using their traditional service to get back and forth to the Amtrak Train Station in Mattoon, but have to make a reservation.

“With this service, they just go to the bus stop,” Starwalt said. “We are there in a timely manner, and we pick up whoever is there, and we go on to our next stop.”

She said the price is also cheaper than their traditional service. For one trip to Mattoon, it is $4, but the cost for the Zip Line one-way trip is 50 cents.

The service runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are not weekend hours.

Starwalt said Dial-a-Ride would like to expand the program hours and days.

“We are happy with the usage, but it needs, we need, to see more people using it,” Starwalt said. “If we do, we will absolutely consider extending the day as well as the possibility of having it on weekends.”

Starwalt said they will continue having the traditional service, which does have weekend hours that students can use.

She said this service is more available than the traditional service.

“With going door-to-door, the buses were usually heavily booked,” Starwalt said.

For the full schedule, people can visit the website at www.dialaridetransit.org or by calling 217-639-5169.

She said the community has shown interest in this service for a while before it was established.

“It is something the community had really wanted,” Starwalt said. “We heard, not only from Eastern and Lake Land but other social service agencies so people can get on a bus and get where they want to go.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].