For riders of the former Hammond Transit, Monday was a day of great hopes mingled with confusion as new, expanded bus routes started running all the way to Crown Point and Hegewisch.
Regular bus rider Anna Flores, on her way to her job at the Target store in Munster, said the new routes and more frequent buses will save her time and money.
Time, because waits will be shorter with rush-hour buses running every half-hour, compared to hourly before. And money, because buses now run late into the evening, meaning she won't have to pay $12 cab fares when she works late.
But she also recognized there was some confusion over the new routes as riders at the Dan Rabin Transit Plaza huddled up to bus doors to ask drivers the best bus to take and when would it get there.
"It's the first week," Flores said. "It will have some kinks to work out."
The Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority absorbed Hammond Transit in January. But Monday was the first day of the expanded services the RBA promised when it took the helm.
In all, the former Hammond bus agency, now operating as Northwest Lake County Transit Services, is gaining two entirely new routes and three others have been lengthened.
Bus service is being expanded to almost 15 hours per day. Saturday service also is being restored. All buses carry the RBA's EasyGo moniker.
But frustration with figuring out the new and expanded routes' new stops was boiling over for some riders Monday.
Just before 10 a.m., Patricia Halverson pushed her walker down the sidewalk in front of the Walmart in Hammond to get to a new bus stop on Northcote Avenue.
"That's just not safe," Halverson said of the new stop. "And what are they going to do in the winter, when this will be full of snow?"
Halverson also pointed to a lack of any sign identifying the stop and lack of shelters throughout the system generally.
RBA Executive Director Tim Brown was getting lots of inquiries from riders at the Dan Rabin Transit Plaza at 10:30 a.m.
Brown said the RBA has up to $120,000 to spend on signage and shelters, but wants to get a better idea of what stops are attracting the most riders before putting them up.
Even though a complete set of maps and schedules were distributed only last week, most riders seemed to be finding the right bus with help from patient drivers, Brown said.
"The ridership is good," Brown said. "It's not great, but it's good. I think it will take some time to build up the ridership."
That will be particularly true of the entirely new Brown Line running from near The Community Hospital, in Munster, to the Lake County Government Complex, in Crown Point, Brown said.
The consolidation of bus agencies and expansion of service are taking place for the first two years with the help of a $4.8 million grant from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.
The city of Hammond is continuing to fund the system with $900,000 per year in casino money through the end of 2011. The RBA has projected the bus service will take in about $1.6 million annually in other income, including fares, federal grants and state grants.
