Bloomington Transit will offer limited bus service on the day of the total solar eclipse as the city braces for an estimated 300,000 visitors.
The provider plans to suspend service from 1:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. April 8 because of the influx of vehicular traffic expected for the event, which experts say could be the largest tourism event in Indiana history.
Monroe County will be in the path of totality beginning at 3:04 p.m., according to Visit Bloomington.
Read more: Visit Bloomington, Parks Department explain plans for eclipse celebrations
BT General Manager John Connell said the service schedule will be unchanged leading up to and following the day of the eclipse.
“We're anticipating traffic's going to be basically a nightmare beginning around noon, and we feel the suspension of service will allow us to bring everything back on track,” Connell said. “The last thing we want to do is have buses stuck out in a parking lot — basically, that’s what they’re anticipating is going to happen.”
Connell said BT at one point considered suspending service altogether on eclipse day but opted not to do so because many riders depend on bus service to get to work. The eclipse falls on a Monday.
“We want to be able to get our customers where they need to be,” he said. “However, we don't want them to sit in on a bus that's at a standstill in the middle of a traffic lane.”
Connell said there are currently no planned route detours. He added people who regularly use BT should adjust their schedules accordingly and use its new smartphone application for minute-to-minute service alerts.
Read more: Eskenazi Hospital to limit surgeries the day of the eclipse
“This is just one of those events, we really don’t know what to expect,” Connell said. “If things start to get out of hand, we will adapt as necessary. We will be pushing out service alerts to all of our customers, so they know what’s going on up to the minute.”
The suspension will not affect BTaccess, an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) paratransit service, an on-demand door-to-door service for persons with a disability who cannot use BT’s fixed route bus system.
It also will not affect BT Late Nite on Demand, which offers subsidized Uber and Lyft rides within a designated zone after BT’s regular service hours.
BT’s service maps and schedules are available online.
