Max proposes bus route expansion in Homewood

People who want to save gas money in the over-the-mountain area could have more options to do so if the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority and various cities proceed with proposals to expand route offerings.

Homewood currently has a couple of bus routes. The Magic City Connector route has stops in downtown Homewood at 18th Street, SOHO and at Vulcan. It runs every 20 minutes on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and it runs every 30 minutes on weekends from 10 a.m. to 10 a.m. It takes riders through downtown Birmingham up to Uptown at the BJCC.

There’s also a U.S. 31 South route, which has stops in downtown Homewood and at Brookwood Medical Center. It connects riders to Old Towne Plaza and the Riverchase Galleria.

The proposal is for new routes to connect Vestavia to Mountain Brook and its microtransit zone, which offers “convenient local travel and connection to improved fixed route bus services,” as well as a new transit hub at Brookwood Village in Homewood, which is also scheduled to receive a new microtransit zone. Microtransit zones allow riders to travel anywhere within that zone.

The Homewood zone would “serve job centers and other key destinations in Homewood and Bessemer” between Interstate 65 and Red Mountain Park. Riders also would connect with Route 14, which is being extended, to travel to Lakeshore Parkway and the intersection of Green Springs Highway and Oxmoor Road/Palisades Boulevard.

Beginning in January 2022, the new Vestavia route — Route 43 — also would include Five Points South and Highland Park and allow riders to connect with the 15-minute Magic City Connector in Five Points South and the rest of the fixed route network at Central Station.

In May 2022, the proposal is for the Magic City Connector to operate every 15 minutes between the BJCC and Five Points South on weekdays, with every other trip, a 30-minute service, continuing south to Brookwood Village and Brookwood Baptist Medical Center.

On U.S. 31, the route between Central Station and the Galleria would continue with 60-minute service all day. There would be a microtransit zone serving Lorna Road and surrounding areas, including John Hawkins Parkway, and riders could get on the bus and head to Brookwood Village to connect with the Mountain Brook microtransit zone.

For Birmingham, Homewood and Vestavia, weekday service would be increased from nine to 16 roundtrips, and in Hoover, the service would increase from seven to 16 roundtrips.

The new microtransit zones would be joined by the expansion of on-demand travel, following the success of Birmingham On Demand, said Myrna Pittman, director of marketing for the transit authority. The authority wants to see more riders on buses, she said.

“We believe we provide a very valuable service,” Pittman said.

Pittman said the transit authority has been meeting with community leaders and residents to determine what is needed and what best serves the Birmingham area.

Along with increasing the number of routes and adding microtransit zones, Pittman said the transit authority wants to cut down on the wait times in between buses. Some buses run every 90 minutes, which is “not good,” she said. The goal is to get all routes down to an hour for the time being, and eventually get as many as possible down to 30 minutes, she said.

For more information, visit maxtransit.org.