Danville Mass Transit is the primary provider of

mass transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

Vermilion County, Illinois Vermilion County is a County (United States), county in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois, between the Indiana border and Champaign County, Illinois, Champaign County. It was established in 1826 and was the 45th of Illinois' 102 cou ...

with twelve routes serving the region. As of 2019, the system provided 606,155 rides over 28,659 annual vehicle revenue hours with 11 buses.

History

Public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

in Danville began in the form of mule cars starting in 1883, operated by Citizens Street Railway Company. In 1891, Danville Gas Electric Light & Street Railway Company replaced the mule cars with electric streetcars and took over operations. This company became the Danville Street Railway & Light Co. in 1899. Following the purchase of the system by William B. McKinley in 1901, the Danville streetcar routes became the center of the

Illinois Traction System The Illinois Terminal Railroad Company (reporting marks "ITC"), known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from ...

, officially becoming part of ITS in 1904. The early ITS lines were extensions of the Danville streetcar system to nearby towns such as Catlin, Westville, and Georgetown, followed in 1903 by the main line to Urbana and Champaign. By 1906, these routes meant that Danville had a fairly large streetcar system for such a small city. The Danville streetcar and ITS interurban lines primarily ended at the ITS interurban station, initially on the southwest corner of Reddin Square (or Public Square) at the intersection of Main and Vermilion Streets. Later, the station was moved south of the square. In 1923, ownership changed again to the Illinois Power & Light Company. By the mid 1930s, ridership had declined and the system became Danville City Lines under

National City Lines National City Lines, Inc. (NCL) was a public transportation company. The company grew out of the Fitzgerald brothers' bus operations, founded in Minnesota, United States in 1920 as a modest local transport company operating two buses. Part of the ...

control in 1936. All streetcar service ended December 4, 1936, being replaced by buses, a mere 10 years after the first bus was introduced in Danville. Bee Line Transit Corporation took over operations in 1964, while public ownership followed in November 1973. Fares have been $1 since 2008, up from $0.75 in 2001, and $0.60 prior to that.

Routes

Danville Mass Transit operates 12 bus routes on a pulse system with buses generally departing the downtown transit center at 15 and 45 minutes past each hour. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 5:45 A.M. to 7:11 P.M. and on Saturday from 7:15 A.M. to 7:11 P.M. No service is provided on Sunday or on major holidays. Route 10 provides service to

Illinois Terminal The Illinois Terminal is an intermodal passenger transport center located at 45 East University Avenue in Champaign, Illinois, United States. The facility opened in January 1999 and provides Amtrak train service and various bus services to the C ...

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, providing connections to the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District. *1 Grant/Logan *2 Gilbert *4 Bowman *6 Main/Fairchild *7 Williams/Main *8 Douglas Park *9 Georgetown *10 Danville-Champaign *11 Vermilion *12 Heights-South Danville *13 Tilton *14 Lynch

The Richard L. Brazda Bus Terminal

The Richard L. Brazda Bus Terminal, located downtown at 101 N. Hazel St., serves as the primary transfer hub for Danville Mass Transit. Opening in 2017 and costing $3 million, the facility includes indoor seating, restrooms, and vending machines. In addition to serving Danville Mass Transit, the facility also serves intercity buses.

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...

service to the facility began in January 2019 with one round trip and stops at Champaign’s Illinois Terminal, Bloomington-Normal, Oglesby, Rochelle, Elgin, Rockford and Chicago.

Fixed Route Ridership

The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response.

References

External links