Waite Park Transit Station Plans Revealed; Half-Hour Bus Frequency Possibly Returning

(KNSI) — Now that Metro Bus has the green light, a new Waite Park Transit Station will soon begin taking shape at the intersection of Sundial Drive and 2nd Avenue South.

The organization has brought in a team of experts to consult on how best to use the 5.5 acres at its disposal. Chief Operating Officer David Green talks about what the group came up with and how it differs from their current facility in downtown St. Cloud. “We’re at between 4,000 and 5,000 square feet, and then the actual property itself, and the actual layout itself, is going to be quite a bit bigger than the transit center downtown to be conducive to safer pull-ins [and] pull-outs.”

Green hopes to have the Waite Park Transit Station open by early fall, giving Metro Bus time to work the kinks out before it completely revamps its route map with the Metro Bus Forward initiative.

The redesigned routes will take into account having two hubs rather than just one. Green says routes aren’t finalized yet, but what is being worked on directly addresses the number one complaint cited by current riders in surveys and other feedback, the fact that there just aren’t as many runs as there used to be. “Instead of waiting an hour for a bus, we’re going to be returning to some half-hour frequency, and things like that. I think it’s going to be a significant improvement to what we have right now. Customers are going to see some of the things that they were used to seeing a long time ago.”

Green says the goal is to operate a schedule close to what they had pre-pandemic. He is also pushing to make as many rides as possible the one-seat variety, meaning customers would not need to switch buses to reach their final destination.

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