Rural bus system opening new facility in Elgin, expanding service in Marble Falls
ELGIN, Texas (KXAN) — It's about to get easier to travel around rural parts of Central Texas.
The Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) is expanding its service by opening a new facility in Elgin on July 14.
The facility is dedicated to the late Bastrop County Commissioner Gary "Bubba" Snowden. His wife, Donna Snowden, now sits on the transportation system's board of directors in his place.
The new building will help CARTS keep up with the increasing demand and a growing city, as construction begins on new subdivisions as well as commercial developments along U.S. 290.
Later in the fall on Sept. 1, CARTS will also expand on-demand service to Marble Falls.
Currently, the curb-to-curb transportation service is only offered in Bastrop, Taylor and Lockhart. The service works similar to a rideshare option for rural communities.
CARTS officials said they started to see a rise in riders in the areas it is offered.
Bastrop service began in January of last year, and so far it is on track to see nearly 19,000 riders by the end of the year. Taylor's ridership numbers have already surpassed its 2021 figures. Lockhart just began offering the service in May and have had 2,357 passengers thus far.
"Rural transportation is an important service to provide equity to all the people that need it, and that may not have access to it otherwise," said Dana Platt, the public transportation organization's marketing director. "So getting bus service out to those little small communities and the really rural towns is essential service to get those people to goods and services that they need."
Each on-demand service ride costs $2 and is available within 15 minutes to take riders anywhere within the city's service area. Learn how to utilize CARTS on its website.