The Starkville-MSU Rapid Area Transit will launch a free shuttle route to and from the Golden Triangle Regional Airport beginning Jan. 4.
The bus system will provide services for all Monday-through-Saturday flights, with arrivals and departures closely mirroring those of their airborne counterparts.
“We’re really excited to have free transportation to and from Starkville. It’s going to be great,” said GTRA Executive Director Mike Hainsey. “I just had a call yesterday from a parent of an international student wondering how her daughter was going to get to and from the airport for Christmas. Unfortunately, the service won’t be in place before Christmas, but she’ll be one of the first riders when she comes back. We’re the recipient of the hard work made by those involved on this project at Mississippi State.”
Jeremiah Dumas, the university’s parking services director, previously forecast the new route to Starkville aldermen this summer.
In July, the airport announced receiving a $31,300 Mississippi Department of Transportation grant that funded a bus waiting area.
The route will service two additional stops: Walmart and The Mill at MSU. Flights leave GTRA at 6:45 a.m., 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., and buses will arrive at the airport an hour before those departures. Flight arrivals are also similarly staggered each day – 10:35 a.m., 3:35 p.m. and 7:35 p.m. – and a SMART bus will depart from the airport 25 minutes after each flight.
Since flight arrival times are fluid, the schedule will shift based on actual arrival times.
Further expansion of the SMART route into Lowndes and Clay counties is possible in the future, Dumas said Friday. The university is identifying “transportation pipelines that will allow (SMART) to expand into more rural areas,” he said.
“We’re still looking at different options to link industry and jobs to where people live. That’s definitely a 2016 goal,” Dumas said. “(SMART) is something MDOT has been very excited about funding, and the airport route will be a direct service not only for international students, but also Starkville residents and anyone wishing to access the major transportation hub that is GTRA.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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