Connect Transit

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Connect Transit
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A bus leaving Uptown Station in 2022
FormerlyBloomington-Normal Public Transit System
Founded1972
Headquarters351 Wylie Dr.
LocaleNormal, Illinois
Service areaMcLean County, Illinois
Service typebus service, paratransit
Routes16
StationsUptown Station
Fleet44 Transit, 27 Demand Response
Daily ridershipTemplate:American transit ridership (Template:American transit ridership)Template:American transit ridership
Annual ridershipTemplate:American transit ridership (Template:American transit ridership)Template:American transit ridership
Fuel typeDiesel, Electric, Propane
Websiteconnect-transit.com

Connect Transit, is the name that Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System ,[1]is doing business as, and is the primary provider of mass transportation in Bloomington/Normal, Illinois. The system consists of 16 fixed routes including the Illinois State University Redbird Express. In Template:American transit ridership, the system had a ridership of Template:American transit ridership, or about Template:American transit ridership per weekday as of Template:American transit ridership.

History

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File:B-NPTS Gillig Phantom.jpg
Gillig Phantom serving the Blue (E) route
File:Redbird Express Gillig Phantom.jpg
Gillig Phantom serving the Redbird Express service
File:B-NPTS Gillig Low Floor.jpg
Gillig Low Floor serving the Lime (I) route

Until 1972, Bloomington-Normal was served by National City Lines. When the company left the region, the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal established an intergovernmental agency known as the Bloomington Normal Public Transit System, via intergovernmental agreement. The transit system operates as an independent agency governed by a board appointed by both the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal.[1]

Routes

Connect Transit's buses run every 15, 30, or 60 minutes, depending on the route, time of day, and day of the week. Service is offered in the day and evening hours daily, although hours are reduced on weekends. Buses do not operate on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.[2] Basic adult fare is $1.25 with free transfers. 1, 7, or 30 day bus passes are available.[3]

Connect Transit has two main transfer centers. Uptown Station, located in Normal, is also served by Amtrak and by intercity buses. Eight routes have one terminus here. The other transfer center is two miles to the south, in downtown Bloomington on Front Street across from the McLean County Law & Justice Center. Nine routes have one terminus here. The Green, Red, and Lime routes serve both locations.[4]

A new Downtown Bloomington Transit Center is being planned to replace the existing Front Street location. It will be located at the city-owned Market Street Parking Garage (which is expected to be demolished) three blocks north of the current site. Officials expect the new facility to open in late 2026.[5][6][7]

The Olive route that ran along Normal's north side was eliminated on July 1, 2019, due to low ridership.[8]

Route List[4]

Route Name Northern/Western Terminus Southern/Eastern Terminus Interval (min)
Aqua Downtown Bloomington Greyhound & Southgate 60 mins
Blue Shoppes at College Hills Downtown Bloomington 60 mins 30 mins (Peak hour)
Brown Bloomington Walmart Uptown Station 60 mins
Gold Carle BroMenn Downtown Bloomington 60 mins
Green Uptown Station Downtown Bloomington 15 mins or 30 mins (weekend)
Lime Uptown Station Downtown Bloomington 30 mins
Orange Downtown Bloomington Hamilton Rd & State Farm Plaza 60 mins
Pink School St & Northfield Dr Uptown Station 30 mins or 60 mins (Sundays)
Purple Downtown Bloomington Shoppes at College Hills 60 mins or 30 mins
Red Uptown Station Downtown Bloomington 30 mins
Mint Normal Walmart Shoppes at College Hills Mon-Fri 30 Mins
Redbird Express Cardinal Court Beaufort St & School St 5 - 7 mins or 20 mins
Sapphire Rivian Bloomington Walmart 60 mins
Silver Bloomington Walmart Downtown Bloomington 60 mins
Tan Uptown Station Central Illinois Regional Airport 60 mins
Yellow Heartland Community College Uptown Station 30 mins or 60 mins (Sundays)

Connect GO

On July 1st, 2025, Connect Transit launched a new demand-response service branded as Connect GO. The new service will serve the rural areas of McLean County not served by the urban fixed-route system.[9][10]

Connect GO replaces SHOW BUS as the public transportation provider for rural McLean County, which is a result of the McLean County Board's Executive Committee voting in June 2024 to withdraw from an intergovernmental agreement with other Central Illinois counties to provide public transportation through SHOW BUS.[11]

Fleet

Source:[12]

Transit

Fleet number(s) Model Year(s) Manufacturer Model Length Engine Transmission Notes
309-311

(3 buses)
retiring

2003 New Flyer D40LF 40 feet (12 m) Cummins ISC ZF 5HP592C
  • Ex-Champaign–Urbana Mass Transit District, purchased in September 2017.
  • 310 is retrofitted with a waiting room area in the back (seats 13), two booths for meeting space (seats 8), a television and a DVD player. It is known as the #GetConnected Community Bus and it was debuted in 2018 with the goal of utilizing the bus to hold voter registration drives, fresh food markets, reading literacy nights, mobile pop-up museums and more.[13]
1001

(1 buses)

2010 Gillig Low Floor 35 feet (11 m) Cummins ISL9 EPA10 Allison B400R
  • Numbered 90 prior to rebranding as Connect Transit.
1101–1104

(4 buses)

2011
  • 96-99 prior to rebranding as Connect Transit.
1002-1004

(3 buses)

2010 New Flyer D40LFR 40 feet (12 m)
1105-1116

(12 buses)

2011 DE40LFR Allison H 40 EP

hybrid system

1501-1505

(5 buses)

2015 XD40 Cummins ISL9 EPA13 Allison B400R
1601-1607

(7 buses)

2016
1801-1805

(5 buses)

2017 Cummins L9 EPA17
1806-1810

(5 buses)

2018
2101-2104

(4 buses)

2021 Proterra ZX5 35 feet (11 m)
2201-2208

(8 buses)

2022 ZX5Max 40 feet (12 m)

Demand Response

Fleet number(s) Model Year(s) Manufacturer Model Length Engine Notes
1701–1704

(4 buses)

2017 Ford
Champion 		E450
LF Transport 		26 feet (7.9 m) Propane
181-189

(9 buses)

2018 Ford
Starcraft 		E450
Allstar 		21 feet (6.4 m) Ford Modular 6.8L V10 Gasoline
201-206

(6 buses)

2020 Ford
Elkhart 		E450
EC II 		Ford Godzilla 7.3L V8 Gasoline
231-233

(3 buses)

Ford
Starcraft 		E450 21 feet (6.4 m) Gasoline
22001-22005 Braunability
Ram 		ProMaster 3500 Gasoline

Fixed Route Ridership

The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response. [14]

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See also

References

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  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."About Us".
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Holiday Service". Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Connect Transit Fares". Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."System Maps". July 1, 2021. Archived from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Stock, Eric (2025-12-02). "Connect Transit awarded $5 million grant for planned Bloomington transfer center". WGLT. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.cleargroup (2023-09-03). "Introducing a New Transit Center". Downtown For Everyone, Bloomington, Illinois. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Steinbacher, Michele (2025-02-27). "Connect Transit leaders confident downtown transfer center is on track, despite rising costs". WGLT. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Connect Transit Delays Fare Hike; Scraps Olive Route". March 26, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Warnecke, Lauren (2025-06-30). "Connect Go rural transit service launches July 1". WGLT. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Transit, Connect. "Connect Go". Connect Transit. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ellin, Melissa (2024-06-11). "McLean County Board to vote on placing referendum to eliminate auditor's office on November ballot". WGLT. Retrieved 2026-02-06.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Transit, Connect. "Our Fleet". Connect Transit. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Connect Transit Fleet". Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The National Transit Database (NTD)". Retrieved January 8, 2025.

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