The Winston-Salem City Council has voted in favor of sweeping changes to the city’s public transportation system. After years of study and gathering customer feedback, the Winston-Salem Transit Authority’s agenda item was approved unanimously by councilmembers in a matter of seconds.
WSTA’s most popular routes will run every 30 minutes instead of every 60 minutes starting this summer. Less-used stops on those routes will be cut to shorten trips. Two new crosstown routes will bypass downtown to connect people with their jobs. Microtransit zones will provide on-demand rideshare service where needed.
Winston-Salem State University economics professor Craig Richardson says all the research put into the plan paid off.
"So the city did a really, really good job of looking at where the riders lived, looking where the jobs were, and then thinking about how do we connect people as quickly as possible, to see if we can emulate the life that people have when they drive a car," he says.
Richardson adds that changes will help area commuters but remain cost-neutral. The proposed route changes will launch in August. Microtransit options will be available beginning in January of next year. The recommended fixed route and microtransit fares are $1.00 and $2.00, respectively.