Usual bus riders may have seen some new faces Monday on JeffTran. The Jefferson City Transit System offered free rides on JeffTran on its annual Discover JeffTran/Ride Free Day.
Mark Mehmert, city director of transportation, said the event is held every year to expose more people in Jefferson City to the transit system, as well as thanking regular riders with a day of free travel.
For regular riders such Tyler Troutman, who rode the gold route home from work Monday, the discount is nice. He said he typically rides the bus at least two times a day during the week.
Troutman said he likes that JeffTran runs on a regular schedule, but he wished it ran on the weekends and evenings. JeffTran runs 6:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
"It's a great system. I used to live in a bigger city where the buses ran earlier and later than they do here, but it's actually very convenient," Troutman said. "You know it's always going to be on a strict schedule."
On free ride day, Troutman and many others climbed aboard the bus, $1 in hand ready to pay their fare, only to be pleasantly surprised when bus drivers told them there would be no charge.
On a normal day, an adult pass is $1, which includes a transfer pass if needed. Adult 20-ride passes are available for $20, and student 20-ride passes are $18. There are six set routes that cover large portions of the city.
Mark Sullens has been driving buses for about 14 years. On Monday, he drove the gold route which serves west High Street as well as stopping at the Missouri State Capitol, Memorial Park and the Missouri Probation & Parole office.
Sullens said the free ride day can help show people the bus isn't something to avoid.
"I think the benefit is to get people out here that wouldn't normally ride the bus to ride the bus and see what it's all about. People think that riding the bus, there's a stigma that it's just the poor and deprived, but that's not the case," Sullens said. "We've got state workers, we've got people going to church, we've got people doing things, and just to show people that that whole perception is not actually what it is."
The first ride-for-free day was held in 2015 and has since been held annually. Mehmert said they try to do it each year on or around Columbus Day, in order to give state employees the chance to ride the bus while they're off work.
"A state government employee would be a pretty good fit for a transit ride, if they chose to do so," Mehmert said.
In years past, depending on weather, they've had anywhere from 50-100 percent more riders on free ride day than usual, he said.
This year, they added a "Grandparent Adventure Day" plan, with different suggestions of where people could go to have a fun day out on one route.
For example, Mehmert said, the gold route could take you from a tour of the Missouri Capitol over to Memorial Park, and then back to downtown for frozen yogurt at YoYums on High Street.
The phone application Double-Map can help riders keep track of when to get back to bus stops to keep their adventure going. Introduced in December 2018, the app shows all of the routes, bus and stop locations, and gives time estimates for each stop.