Connect Transit, formerly Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System until 2012,[3] is the primary provider of mass transportation in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois. The system consists of 16 fixed routes including the Illinois State University Redbird Express and a Red Express route. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 2,254,400, or about 6,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
History
Gillig Phantom serving the Blue (E) route
Gillig Phantom serving the Redbird Express service
Gillig Low Floor serving the Lime (I) route
Until 1972, Bloomington-Normal was served by National City Lines. When the company left the region, the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal established an intergovernmental agency known as the Bloomington Normal Public Transit System, via intergovernmental agreement. The transit system operates as an independent agency governed by a board appointed by both the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal.[3]
Routes
Connect Transit's buses run every 15, 30, or 60 minutes, depending on the route, time of day, and day of the week. Service is offered in the day and evening hours daily, although hours are reduced on weekends. Buses do not operate on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.[4] Basic adult fare is $1.25 with free transfers. 1, 7, or 30 day bus passes are available.[5]
Connect Transit has two main transfer centers. Uptown Station, located in Normal, is also served by Amtrak and by intercity buses. Eight routes have one terminus here. The other transfer center is two miles to the south, in downtown Bloomington. Nine routes have one terminus here. The Green, Red, and Lime routes serve both locations.[6]
The Olive route that ran along Normal's north side was eliminated on July 1, 2019, due to low ridership.[7]
310 is retrofitted with a waiting room area in the back (seats 13), two booths for meeting space (seats 8), a television and a DVD player. It is known as the #GetConnected Community Bus and it was debuted in 2018 with the goal of utilizing the bus to hold voter registration drives, fresh food markets, reading literacy nights, mobile pop-up museums and more.[9]
