Express route
The express bus route makes stops at The Summit and the U.S. 280 Walmart before heading downtown. Photo by Jessa Pease.
Lisa Frost belongs to an elite class.
The Inverness resident commutes to work every day on U.S. 280, but she avoids the gridlock. She can read emails and send texts without worrying about distracted driving because she isn’t the one behind the wheel.
Frost has been a regular rider of MAX’s new express bus route between the Walmart on 280 and downtown.
“I don’t like to get out in the 280 traffic, so I hope they keep it,” she said.
MAX started the route in November as a quicker alternative to the routes that make numerous stops along 280. Despite low initial ridership numbers, the transit authority plans to keep the express route.
The express bus, known as Route 201, doesn’t board at the MAX bus stop on the side of the store. It boards across the parking lot, directly behind Express Oil Change and Hamburger Heaven. Only a small folding sign marks the bus stop, which has created some confusion for riders looking for the express route, according to a MAX driver on the route that stops at the store.
Barbara Murdock, chief of staff at the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority, said the service was averaging just one rider a day each way when it began. That number increased to two, then four. It climbed to eight and has held steady since then. She said MAX would be happy if the route eventually averages 20 riders.
“We’re happy that we are seeing a steady increase,” Murdock said.
Murdock said the area transit company plans to re-evaluate the route and interview riders to see what changes might need to be made.
Frost would like to see the bus run at more times in the morning and afternoon. Currently the bus leaves Walmart at 5:45 and 6:30 a.m. and stops at The Summit before heading to its downtown stops: St. Vincent’s, UAB at 19th Street and University Boulevard, downtown at Sixth Avenue and 20th Street North and at the Social Security building. Outbound routes start at 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. The one-way fare is $1.25.
“It’s great,” Frost said of the bus, which seats 22 and offers amenities to appeal to commuters. “I love that we’re able to listen to music and use the Wi-Fi.”
Right now, there is also plenty of room to spread out. On the frigid morning of Jan. 8, with temperatures in single digits when the bus made its first stop, just two riders used the service.
One rider boarded at the route’s first stop in the Walmart parking lot. Frost prefers to board at The Summit.
Frost plans to remain a steady customer. She had to drive her car to work one day when MAX was running a holiday schedule and wasn’t happy fighting traffic.
“I was so upset,” she said. “I was like, ‘I wish I could be on the bus.’”
