Silver Springs residents betrayed by Summit County’s new bus plans

A guest post from a Silver Springs local:

I think it’s fair to say that the residents of Silver Springs feel betrayed by the loss of the Pink bus. We are one of the very few neighborhoods in the area that is reasonably well laid out for public transit (in the 5 minutes it takes the bus to drive through, it comes within easy walking distance of 300+ houses) and while Covid has put a damper on ridership, it’s historically been popular, at least in my experience.

It’s not clear to me why every other Lime bus couldn’t come through Silver Springs (service every 30 minutes as it is now). The detour takes minimal time, serves lots of residents well, and is easy to use and understand.

I personally have zero interest in taking a microtransit vehicle (which we both know will show up late half the time, causing me to miss the bus I want) with my kids/carseats/stroller/etc. Transferring between vehicles multiple times per trip just means I’ll drive, even if I didn’t have to lug carseats and boosters around. I imagine many people here feel the same.

Don’t get me wrong, if I lived in Jeremy Ranch, or Silver Creek, or some other area that is impractical to serve with a fixed line, I’d be excited. The microtransit service will be a big upgrade for those places. But I don’t – I live somewhere that I chose partially because of access to the bus, as did many of my neighbors.

This plan is throwing the Silver Springs area under the proverbial bus in exchange for a savings of 5 minutes of drive time and a few gallons of fuel a day. It’s penny wise and pound foolish, and it’s a plan that was made with what appears to be no public input. We should change it and keep the bus running through Silver Springs.

–Silver Springs Resident