Jill Schramm/MDN Buses pick up riders at the transfer center at Minot Municipal Auditorium Wednesday. Two new routes would be added under proposed changes.

Two new bus routes could be enhancing service in Minot as soon as August – if a driver can be hired.

Minot City Transit Superintendent Brian Horinka spoke at a public meeting Wednesday to outline the route changes but noted the city faces the challenge of finding and training a driver by the end of July to be able to implement the plan. If that doesn’t happen, changes likely would wait until 2024.

Under the plan, the current South route would become the Southeast route as it shifts entirely to the east side of Broadway. The shift will enable service to senior living communities and will run a bus by Washington Elementary School.

“I think this is going to be a great addition. We’re getting the shift east into areas we haven’t been able to reach before,” Horinka said.

A new Southwest route will serve Trinity Hospital as well as the Social Security Office and the Dakota Square Mall area. The Tracks, a mixed-use development on 37th Street Southwest near Trinity, is being constructed with a bus stop.

The current North route will become the Northwest route. The new North route will travel north on Broadway to 40th Avenue and include access to Job Service. The bus will stop at Ramstad Middle School before heading back to the transfer center, which is expected to move from Minot Municipal Auditorium to a new location in the Renaissance parking ramp in early 2024. The new route also will service a number of apartment complexes and a mobile home park.

The route changes will mean transit coverage from 40th Avenue North to 37th Avenue South, Horinka said.

“Especially with no taxi cabs now in town, we’re really trying to make sure we’re getting as much coverage throughout the community as we can,” he said.

Gap pockets will continue to exist in the Bel Air area because of the difficulty of access and the 55th Street Southeast area because remoteness hinders transit timeliness, Horinka said.

“Otherwise I feel pretty good about the amount of coverage we’re providing within the city of Minot for public transit now with these changes,” he said.

Horinka also spoke about an additional 4 p.m. stop at the schools on the new routes in the future.

“This year, we did have some very crowded buses. By doing this we’re going to eliminate a little bit of that overcrowding, and hopefully get everybody home a little more efficiently,” he said.

Minot City Transit provides about 8,000 rides a month during the school year and 4,000 rides a month in summer months.