blvd room 1120 1 locale south bend in service area elkhart and st. joseph county area service type bus service paratransit routes 5 stations 1 fleet 3 hometown trolley buses 1 10 eldorado national ez rider ii 2 annual ridership 482 593 0.17 % 1 fuel type diesel operator michiana area council of governments chief executive james turnwald executive director 1 website interurban trolley interurban trolley is an elkhart county regional public bus service operated by the michiana area council of governments macog . it was originally known as the bus system . the system serves the city of elkhart and neighboring goshen osceola dunlap and mishawaka . it is made up of five fixed routes that radiate from downtown elkhart and an on demand para transit service that covers the same territory as the fixed routes . the name refers to the fact that the system serves several communities using vintage trolley style buses evoking interurban trains that were common in united states during the early 20th century . 3 contents 1 history 2 general system information 3 fares 4 routes 5 connections to other transit systems 6 references 7 external links history edit the bus system was originally made up of two routes the previously independent concord route and the elkhart goshen route . the concord route was established in 1986 providing a link between western elkhart and dunlap . it was operated by concord township trustee and funded using local dollars . 4 in 1999 macog launched the elkhart goshen route linking together the cities of elkhart and goshen and establishing the bus transit system . 5 at the time the system used minibuses to transport passengers . the system was expanded in 2003 with the addition of north pointe route which linked downtown elkhart and the north pointe mall in the city s northern section . on december 20 2006 macog replaced the mini buses with wheelchair accessible trolley style buses and gave the system its current name . 6 in september 2009 macog launched the bittersweet mishawaka route linking elkhart and city of mishawaka s eastern neighborhoods . it was designed to sync up with south bend transpo s route 9 . the routes meet at martin s department store arriving and departing within minutes of each other . as of this writing there are no free transfers between the systems . on february 1 2010 service on two of the four interurban trolley routes were changed . the north pointe route was extended to the new martin s and goodwill stores at county road 4 and cassopolis st. st. rd. 19 . the bittersweet mishawaka route got new stop at the elkhart general hospital . 7 on august 16 2010 the new elkhart east west route was added . it is made up of two sets of loops that run through elkhart s western and eastern neighborhoods intersecting at the system s transit hub . 8 the route was originally conceived as a way to fill a service gap identified in the 2007 macog coordinated transportation plan . 9 on february 3 2012 macog officials announced that service will be changed after concord township cut its share of the system funding . the last minute injection of funds from elkhart and goshen city governments allowed macog to avoid immediate cuts and gave it a month to figure out how the service would be changed . 10 subsequently cleveland osolo and elkhart townships agreed to provide some funding assistance and concord township agreed to provide some funding as well albeit at a reduced level . 11 even with the infusion of funding macog decided to revamp the interurban trolley . while the elkhart goshen and bittersweet mishawaka routes were largely unaffected other routes were changed significantly . the changes took effect on april 2 2012 . that date also marked the introduction of new naming scheme for the routes . from that point on the routes were named after colors as well as major service areas . 12 general system information edit interurban trolley operates on monday saturday . it does not operate on sundays and major holidays new year s day memorial day independence day labor day thanksgiving and christmas day . 13 the system operates from 5 00 am 8 00 pm on monday friday and 5 00 am 7 00 pm on saturday . for the most part weekday and saturday schedules are identical . fares edit the fares for the interurban trolley are 14 15 base fare 1.00 half fare 0.50 1 day pass 3.00 14 day pass 18.00 31 day pass 35.00 transfers free good for 120 minutes access fare 2.00 half fares for senior citizens and disabled persons are only accepted during non peak hours . must show id medicare card or handi card to receive discount . non peak hours are 5 00 am 7 00 am 11 00 am 3 00 pm and 6 00 pm 7 00 pm the interurban trolley formed a partnership with ivy tech community college that allows students faculty and staff to ride with an ivy tech id and validation sticker . the validation stickers are available for 20 per semester from ivy tech bursar s office . 16 routes edit the interurban trolley is made up of five routes red line elkhart goshen blue line north pointe yellow line bittersweet green line west orange line east the elkhart transfer station serves as the system hub . it is located near the elkhart courthouse in the city s downtown on franklin street between 2nd st. and 3rd st. all given routes stop here within minutes of each other creating convenient transfers . connections to other transit systems edit yellow line bittersweet links up with transpo s route 9 in mishawaka which in turn connects riders to downtown south bend and the south station transpo s transit hub . blue line north pointe stops at elkhart s greyhound station . red line elkhart goshen and green line west routes both stop near the elkhart train station . references edit a b c d 2014 indiana public transit annual report pdf . indiana department of transportation . august 2015 . pp. 46 47 . retrieved 2015 09 28 . plans released for new interurban trolleys in elkhart . wsbt . march 25 2015 . retrieved 2015 09 28 . the interurban trolley trolley . www.interurbantrolley.com . retrieved 2015 09 28 . innovations in transit planning and financing slide 27 macog transit consolidated plan page 15 macogazette volume x issue 1 page 1 http www.fox28.com global story.asp s 11882602 http southbendtribune.com article 20100812 news01 100819832 1130 michiana area council of governments 2010 coordinated transportation plan draft copy page 5 elkhart county trolley routes face change due to funding dip by tim vandenack http www.scribd.com doc 87278572 trolley bus route changes http www.etruth.com article 20120330 news01 703309934 the interurban trolley routes & fares . www.interurbantrolley.com . retrieved 2015 09 28 . the interurban trolley riders guide . www.interurbantrolley.com . retrieved 2015 09 28 . interurban trolley introduces new day pass . retrieved 2016 06 16 . interurban trolley rides for ivy tech students staff just got cheaper through new partnership . retrieved 2015 09 28 . external links edit interurban trolley official website original website for the bus system v t e public transportation in northern indiana passenger rail amtrak wolverine cardinal lake shore limited capitol limited commuter rail south shore line urban bus systems east chicago transit fort wayne citilink gary public transportation corporation interurban trolley michigan city transit south bend transpo v line intercity bus express bus chicago dash greyhound coach usa defunct services valpo local hammond transit system easygo chicago retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title interurban trolley & oldid 725650758 categories bus transportation in indianatransportation in elkhart indianasouth bend mishawaka metropolitan areaelkhart indianagoshen indianahidden categories use mdy dates from october 2011 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured 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