Sunline shows off new bus service to Riverside
A new commuter bus route is promising to connect Riverside with the Coachella Valley. However not everyone will be able to hop on board right away.
Mikel Oglesby, the general manager for Sunline Transit, says, “I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised.”
On Sept.10, Sunline Transit will begin a new route from Palm Desert to downtown Riverside.
“This is something that we’ve been working on for a long time,” says Oglesby.
Complete with free Wi-Fi, the $6 route offers a new way for people to travel, and eventually bring more economic dollars to the Valley.
The new commuter route will leave from the Westfield Mall in Palm Desert, but the challenge for some commuters will be getting here in time to catch the bus.
Leonard Beene has used the bus system for five years. “I love to travel to Riverside.”
But Beene says he can’t on this new route. “Those are the only two buses that are leaving in the morning going to Riverside. It is really difficult to do that when none of the buses connect to those buses.”
Here is the problem, the 111 route for example, leaves Palm Springs at 5:16 in the morning, but doesn’t get to where the new commuter line starts in Palm Desert until 6:08. That’s 16 minutes after the last bus leaves for Riverside.
Beene says, “If a few of them just ran maybe 45 minutes earlier, then I would be able to hit the 220 on time.”
Right now Beene says the only way to catch the new line is to take a cab. “But,I don’t have that much money,” says Beene.
Sunline says they wanted to offer commuters more.
“We didn’t get all of the funding that we wanted to get. We only got half the funding, so we took the funding that we had and we did the best that we could,” says Oglesby.
The transit company hopes as the popularity of the route grows, so will its availability.
Oglesby says, “I want people to be patient and realize good things come to those who wait. Let’s hope that people take to the system and as the system starts getting more riders and we can really do something big.”
In the meantime, Sunline will look at starting local routes earlier.
“If the demand is there we’ll definitely adjust it accordingly,” says Oglesby.
For a look at the new route click here.
