Jill Schramm/MDN Minot city buses pick up and transfer passengers Tuesday at the new downtown transit center that opened Monday. Souris Basin Transportation will begin using the center as a pickup location for Jefferson Lines passengers headed to the Bismarck depot.

With the opening of the City of Minot’s new downtown transit center, Souris Basin Transportation will begin changing the Jefferson Lines pickup site to the new center.

SBT Director Darrell Francis said the intent is to begin pickups for Jefferson Lines at the transit center today. Passenger pickups will be at 7:45 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, switching to Monday through Friday on Oct. 1.

For the next month, SBT also will continue to pick up Jefferson Lines passengers at Walmart at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for transport to the bus depot in Bismarck. From the Bismarck depot, Jefferson Lines passengers can go on to access a number of cities nationally.

Francis said Walmart has been an unofficial stop since the partnership with Jefferson Lines began last November. There is no signage and no waiting area with seating. The transit center on the northwest side of the Renaissance parking ramp, next to city hall, is signed for transit service and has waiting areas.

In conjunction with the bus line route, SBT continues to provide door-to-door service between Minot and Bismarck to its own destination passengers who schedule in advance. Pickups for the return trips to Minot begin about noon and 6 p.m.

SBT has operated a destination route between Minot and Bismarck since 2018 and can deliver passengers to the Jefferson Lines depot through that service. However, passengers traveling Jefferson Lines have the option to book their full trips through the bus company and travel the portion between Minot and Bismarck with SBT.

“It has taken off,” Francis said of ridership on the intercity route. “It’s more than double what we did before November.”

SBT uses a nine-passenger transit van on the intercity route but employs its 14-passenger bus if ridership and luggage require it.