Marion Transit System (MTS) is the primary provider of
mass transportation in
Marion, Indiana
Marion is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,948 as of the 2010 United States Census. The city is the county seat of Grant County. It is named for Francis Marion, a brigadier general from South Carolina in the ...
, with five routes serving the region. As of 2019, the system provided 257,760 rides over 14,708 annual vehicle revenue hours with 5 buses and 1 paratransit vehicle.
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 Marion began with
horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...
s in 1889, with the Marion Street Railway Co. In 1893, the horsecars were replaced with
streetcars
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
, which in turn were replaced by
buses
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
in 1947. In 2021, a mural was painted on a building across from the bus terminal, depicting an
interurban
The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...
that formerly provided transit service in the city. From 2020 through 2022, bus schedules were limited due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and later staffing shortages.
Service
Marion Transit System operates five weekday bus routes on a pulse system with all routes serving the downtown bus terminal on the hour. Hours of operation for the system are Monday through Friday from 7:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. There is no service on Saturdays and Sundays. Buses are
fare-free.
Routes
*Central Marion / Ivy Tech
*General Motors / Northeast
*IWU / North Marion
*Southeast / West Point
*West Marion / VA Hospital
Fixed route ridership
The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response services.
See also
*
List of bus transit systems in the United States
The following is a list of presently-operating bus transit systems in the United States with regular service. The list excludes charter buses, private bus operators, paratransit systems, and trolleybus systems. Figures for daily ridership, number ...
*
Kokomo City-Line Trolley
Kokomo City-Line Trolley, also simply known as "The trolley", is a free fixed transportation route serving the city of Kokomo, Indiana, in Howard County.
History
The city of Kokomo rolled out the buses in late 2010 which was the first bus syst ...
References
External links
Marion Transit System
Marion, Indiana
Bus transportation in Indiana
Transit agencies in Indiana
{{Indiana-transport-stub