Matt Bus offers three different modes of transportation for the residents of Fargo,
Moorhead, West Fargo, and Delworth. We have our fixed route service, which is our large
buses that go around all the different cities on predetermined routes. They have predetermined
times, so you can take a look at matbus.com to see exactly when those buses are arriving at those
particular stops. We also offer paratransit services for residents with either physical
or cognitive disabilities. With that, people can pre-apply with us to be able to utilize the service
and it will take you anywhere within those four different cities. And then last, we have our
on-demand service, which is sort of like an Uber or Lyft type thing, where passengers can download
an app. And with that, request a pickup and drop-off destination within some predetermined
zones that we have. And then our vehicle will come get you and bring you to your destination.
Our entire system last year had approximately 1.2 million rides, so if you think about how many
vehicles that would be on the road if people were driving individually, it does help to reduce a lot
of the wear and tear on roads just based on those sheer numbers. And it also can help to reduce some
congestion around the Fargo, Moravlos, Fargo and Delworth areas. Preventative maintenance is one
of the main things that our maintenance staff performs on a daily basis. Buses are inspected
about every 5,000 miles, which turns out to be about every four to six weeks. Some items are
replaced on a schedule, some of the high failure items, just to prevent a breakdown on the road.
The buses are replaced on a 12-year schedule. Obviously, an older bus is more costly to
maintain, so staying up to date on our replacement schedule and making sure those buses are replaced
as close to 12 years as possible helps us to really control our operational maintenance costs.
Every day, the drivers will perform, before they go on route, free trip inspection of the bus.
They also perform a post-trip inspection of the bus after their shift is over. We have actually
some new software that utilizes digital inspections, so the drivers do their inspection on the vehicle.
And then they perform that inspection and mark any notes on the inspection digitally on the tablets
and their buses. That new system allows for real-time information to be shared with operation staff
and then also our maintenance staff, which makes for quicker response times when defects are found
and then allows the shop to prioritize those repairs as the buses come off route at the end
of the night. On our fixed route side, we have our live tracker, which residents can go on to our
website and take a look at that. Like I said, it gives you the exact time of bus arrivals, so you
get to see the bus traveling on the live tracker as well as accurate arrival and departure times.
This is a very affordable option for people to be able to get around. It's a good option for people
who unfortunately don't have the highest incomes. We're able to offer a way to get around town,
still be able to get groceries, be able to get to work, you know, make daily commutes or even go out
for a little bit of fun. Map bus gives a good opportunity for people to still maintain a pretty
good sense of independence on a budget. Once a year, we have what we call a tri-map bus week,
so all of our routes are free to everyone in the community, so if you haven't tried out public
transit, we definitely encourage you to do that. That'll be coming in up October and we'll
definitely be sending out some information to people ahead of time.