OTTAWA COUNTY, MI – Public transit is now easier to use in northwestern Ottawa County with the addition of a new mobile app for riders, but they’ll soon have to start paying their fares again.
Harbor Transit, which serves the cities of Grand Haven, Spring Lake, and Ferrysburg, and the townships of Grand Haven and Spring Lake, has launched the Lakeshore Go app for on-demand transportation service.
Through the Lakeshore Go app, riders can schedule rides, pay for fares, and track buses heading to their locations.
“For 48 years, the only way riders could reserve a ride was to call a dispatch center during business hours,” Harbor Transit Executive Director Scott Bogue said in a prepared statement. “Lakeshore Go allows customers to book a ride in the app at their convenience, receive text updates on exact pick-up times, and track their bus in real-time.”
You can also pay for fares using the app, which will be reinstated from December 11 after being abolished in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The only other way to pay the fare is to go to the Harbor Transit facility. Fares are not collected on the bus.
The app can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play Store.
One-way fares are $1.50 for ages 19 to 59. One-way fares are 75 cents if you are between the ages of 5 and 18 or 60 and older, have a disability, or receive Medicare. Children under 5 years old are free when accompanied by an adult.
Multi-ride punch cards are available and older cards that still have rides remaining will be accepted.
A 2019 financial audit of Harbor Transit found that passenger fares contributed more than $231,000 to the transit system’s operating budget that year. The fares were temporarily phased out in 2020 and replaced with federal CARES Act operating support funds, according to an audit that year.
According to Harbor Transit statistics, passenger numbers have plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic, from an average of 21,099 per month in 2019 to 8,245 per month in 2020.
Since then, the numbers have rebounded, and Harbor Transit’s financial information shows that no CARES Act funds were used in 2021-2022 or budgeted in 2022-23.
Harbor Transit offers “curb-to-curb service” by pre-registration, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ” is provided.
You can reserve rides up to 14 days in advance using the Lakeshore Go app. Alternatively, you can reserve a ride by calling (616) 842-3200.
If you need to be on time for work or an appointment, we recommend scheduling your ride a day in advance.
Those who need to travel to Muskegon County can take Harbor Transit to Trinity Health Lakes Village, where they can transfer to a Muskegon Area Transit System bus.
Harbor Transit also operates scheduled summer trolleys and “Beach Express” service.
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