Upcoming Changes on VanGo- Silver Spring Free Circulator Bus (VIDEO)

UPDATED, July 16, 11:10 a.m. – Getting around Silver Spring is important to residents, and members of the Silver Spring Advisory Board wanted to know more about VanGo’s upcoming changes during a meeting held on July 13 at the Silver Spring Civic Center.

VanGo is the Ride On free shuttle that runs in downtown Silver Spring. The goal is to make the service more reliable and raise awareness about the shuttle’s availability.

Howard Benn, chief of customer and operations support for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, said this September Van Go drivers will take on a driving experiment called interlining.

“It’s where an operator … with his or her bus go from round to round. … So, it’s one operator, it’s one bus, but it’s going from line to line,” Benn said.

VanGo shuttle has approximately 25 stops where users can take the bus to check out restaurants, local art businesses, movie theater, and shopping centers. This approach, according to Benn, will avoid drivers to have “tedious” shifts since they will not be driving the same route.

“What the driver told us [was that] it’s just too much. Going around these circles hour after hour after hour just didn’t cut it,” Benn said.

Will Kenlaw, the program manager for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, also said routes have been posted in bus shelters, and Ride On officials have been advertising the service on local businesses and government facilities.

County officials also said, starting in September, 18 bus drivers will begin to drive the VanGo route for about four hours a day. The service is available Monday to Thursday from 7 a.m. to midnight. On Friday and Saturdays, the service is available from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.

DOT officials: also want to outreach residents in apartments in the area. #VanGo

— Aline Barros (@AlineBarros2) July 13, 2015

Van Go facts: 5 trips per hour, 90 trips per day on Monday to Friday, and 110 Friday and Saturday. #VanGo

— Aline Barros (@AlineBarros2) July 13, 2015

About Aline Barros

Aline Barros is a multimedia reporter and community engagement specialist with Montgomery Community Media. She can be reached at Abarros@mymcmedia.org and on Twitter at @AlineBarros2.

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