Over the summer the Duluth Transit Authority has been working towards cutting back ride times. After getting input from the community through surveys sent out in February of 2021, the DTA has worked to change routes and bus stop locations along with other changes. 

There are many improvements the DTA has been working on the past few years, with the main goal to make bus ride time more efficient and making riding better for people in the community. They have many 

different “Better DTA” movements and pages going in depth on their plans.

What once was 48 different bus routes has now been cut down to 21. They are still reaching a very broad area, expanding to lakeside Duluth, New Duluth, Downtown Duluth and, up to the Duluth Airport. The buses go through University of Minnesota Duluth’s college campus. They also run in Superior WI going to Allouez, Walmart and near University of Wisconsin Superior’s campus, along with the Superior High School. 

There were once 1,688 bus stops all within a block of each other. Because of this the ride time was longer. After doing some research and sending out surveys the DTA has decided to change bus stop locations. The new system they’re using is having stops every ⅛  to ¼ mile, or one stop every two blocks. The only exceptions to this would be somewhere with a very steep hill, the climate, and snow and ice management in that area. 

“Nearly 80% of Duluth and Superior residents live within walking distance of a bus stop,” was said on the DTA’s Better Bus Blueprint page. 

Many people in the community use the DTA as a daily transportation system whether they are using the bus, bikes, or park and ride services. Because of people riding daily, they have many different “passes” including a 31- day pass, day pass, 7 day pass and many more. The peak fare is usually $1.50 and $3 for a day pass. These prices are very reasonable. 

“I am able to ride the bus for free with my student ID, so that makes it really nice,” sophomore Celia Bartell, a weekly rider of route 110 said. 

The DTA website is easy to access and understand, it has information for all the “Better DTA plans” along with route information, prices, advertising and many more. By making these improvements they have also gotten more mobile payment options along with trip planners, mobile apps, alerts, and real time tracking. 

“To find out when my next bus is coming, I go to the maps on my phone and search up where I want to go, I then change the thing from drive to bus and it’ll give me what stop to go to, and when the bus is coming,” Bartell said.

While being in the middle of these changes things can be confusing at first but riding the DTA gives good exposure. 

“It has a lot of diversity with interesting people,” Bartell also said.

The DTA has made many changes while also being in the middle of many changes to come and plans to continue making the DTA a better place and easier for the community as it is used by many.