Palm Tran improves public transportation routes, seats, plans for zero-emissions future
Ivonne Perez and Aaron Klein| Palm Beach Post
Fast, frequent and convenient service is just part of a larger focus to get riders back on the bus and establish Palm Tran Public Transportation as the premier transportation choice in Palm Beach County. Accomplishing that goal, Palm Tran continues to make route improvements and upgrade technology in order to return to pre-pandemic ridership numbers and gain new ones in the process.
“We know our service is vital to so many in our community who depend on public transportation to get to work, school and just run basic errands for everyday life,” said Clinton B. Forbes, Palm Tran’s executive director. “We know our riders and we know our community, and our mission is to provide a service that everyone has access to and gets them to where they want and need to go in an efficient, safe and courteous way. For those yet to try public transit, we say give us a chance. For those who depend on us, we say come back.”
During the pandemic, ridership dropped by 40% and the number of passengers allowed on each bus was limited to follow CDC guidelines. Palm Tran, which still follows a mask mandate for drivers and riders, returned to full bus capacity this summer and continues a sanitation practice in which every bus is regularly cleaned throughout the day. Ready for returning patrons and ready to welcome new riders, Palm Tran currently provides transportation to more than 22,000 people per weekday.
To make that happen, the Palm Tran Service Board (PTSB), the governing body of Palm Tran, approved the executive director’s recommendation for ten significant route alterations. The route changes were designed to provide consistent and reliable service, improve on-time performance, strengthen established weekday and weekend routes and help with smooth transfers. Some routes increased in frequency; others were extended. Working together, the changes provide a unified flow of service for comfortable, seamless transportation.
For example, route 43 spans much of Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach, and during weekday trips, riders were waiting 30 minutes. That time has been cut to 20 minutes. On the weekends, it went from once an hour to every 30 minutes. Slicing wait time improves overall experience.
“We know that ‘frequency is freedom,’ and this is a way for us to provide that freedom to our riders,” said Yash Nagal, Palm Tran’s planning manager. “By increasing the time on popular routes, we are giving people more opportunity to travel to Downtown West Palm Beach, get their connection to another Palm Tran bus and get them where they need to be faster.”
Timing of bus route 21, which runs at Northlake and US-1, was adjusted 15 minutes to miss the Parker Bridge openings and reduce traffic build up. Bus routes that meet at Mangonia Tri-Rail stations had frequency changes that reflect community demands. Route 31 improved frequency from every 45 minutes to every 30 minutes.
Route 40 westbound trips now begin at 5:30 a.m. and eastbound trips begin at 4:35 a.m. Time changes were made to route 47, a connection between Okeechobee Center and Pahokee, to coincide with route 40, giving Glade riders easier and faster transportation.
Bus route 43, which provides transportation from the Vista Center and the West Palm Beach Intermodal Transit Center, increased its frequency from once an hour to every 30 minutes. One of the last substantial changes was to route 73, from Boynton Beach Mall, which will now stop at Bethesda Hospital West every day of the week.
Palm Tran’s improvements expand beyond bus routes. Palm Tran already has a free app, text notification and trip planning all at the rider’s fingertips. This fall, a new tap-and-go system, “Paradise Pass,” is being launched, giving riders a faster and easier way to ride using a secure reloadable card.
With a fleet of 159 buses, Palm Tran is installing monitors on all buses to keep riders informed. Seating is getting an upgrade too. Benches and bus shelters are being improved at more than 2,900 stops throughout Palm Beach County. This past spring, Palm Tran opened its new corporate headquarters in Delray Beach. The new building includes infrastructure to charge fully electric, zero-emission buses.
All the changes and plans are part of Palm Tran’s transportation evolution. When Forbes became the executive director in 2015, he immediately recognized areas in need of improvement. Under his direction, Palm Tran implemented the Route Performance Maximization (RPM) project – a comprehensive system redesign aimed to make routes faster and more efficient. These latest service enhancements build on that ongoing success.
“We are always seeking ways to be better,” Forbes said. “We are here to serve the public and we work every day, month and year to provide the best service to the community. I am excited for all the changes and I am looking forward to welcoming everyone onto our buses.”
For more information about Palm Tran Public Transportation, visit: www.palmtran.org.
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