LeRoy City Lines to extend early AM/PM routes through September

CRESCO - Two months ago, LeRoy City Lines added a second morning and early afternoon route to and from Rochester via Grand Meadow. The goal has been to offer the 5:25 a.m. departure in LeRoy and 4:12 p.m. departure in Rochester through August to see if demand would warrant operating these additional routes permanently. 

Two months into the experiment, the LeRoy Economic Development Authority (EDA), which manages the city-owned bus service, isn’t ready to make a long-term commitment, but did decide to extend the trial through Sept. 30.

“Our surveys and traffic count showed a potential demand for usage by commuters needing to be at work in Rochester by 6:30 or 7 a.m.,” says EDA president Craig Jacobson. “So far, our early morning ridership does not reflect this, so we’ll need an increased passenger count to keep this financially feasible.” 

Starting September first, LeRoy City Lines will also eliminate the 5:45 a.m. stop in Grand Meadow, as that stop has shown near zero ridership, according to passengers. However, the bus will continue to stop in Grand Meadow at 4:43 p.m. The EDA is curious to see whether the beginning of the school year may yield more regular riders on the earlier routes, which was another reason to extend the trial. 

The city purchased a second, 23-passenger bus earlier this year to operate the additional routes. The already permanent route, which LeRoy City Lines has been operating since Dec. 1, 2016, leaves LeRoy at 6:25 a.m. and Grand Meadow at 6:45 a.m. The afternoon departure in Rochester is at 5:12 p.m. with arrivals in Grand Meadow at 5:43 p.m. and LeRoy around 6:05 p.m.

Any losses on the commuter side may potentially be made up on the charter side. The demand for charter trips has exceeded the EDA’s expectations, according to member Axel Gumbel. “We are getting a steady flow of reservations for weddings in the area,” Gumbel says. “We’ve served events in the immediate area, as well as North Iowa, Stewartville, Rochester and Austin.” Gumbel says this has been a welcome development and that owning two buses creates more flexibility. “We have one wedding coming up where we will transport up to 150 guests to various locations. It took some time to plan how to most efficiently serve the wedding party with our two buses, and we figured out a good plan.”

Weddings aren’t the only charter trips LeRoy City Lines has been running. The Summer Cardinal Kids program at LeRoy – Ostrander School has booked the bus service multiple times for various field trips in the area. Several LeRoy City Lines drivers are also school bus drivers which adds to availability over the summer. Additionally, LeRoy City Lines has begun offering monthly trips to Diamond Jo Casino (next trip on Thursday, August 17) and will also offer a trip to the Mower County Fair in August on Thursday, August 10.

“We have learned a lot, and when we started LeRoy City Lines, our main objective was to provide good service for our passengers,” Jacobson says. “Overall, I believe we are doing a good job at this.”

As with any service, there are sometimes unforeseen challenges. The EDA’s bigger bus, originally purchased last fall to start the service, has been out of commission for almost a month with a persistent mechanical problem. After transporting passengers with vans for a few days, the EDA decided to rent a bus from Minnesota Coaches until the bus is fixed. “Transporting our passengers in vans may work as a short-notice back-up solution, but it was never intended to be anything more,” says Gumbel. “We pride ourselves in providing quality service, which should also include a quality ride.”

In addition to continuing to evaluate the feasibility of the additional early morning and afternoon trips to and from Rochester, LeRoy City Lines is also considering to add stops in Chester, Iowa.

“We have long played with this idea,” Gumbel says. “We know there are a number of commuters from North Iowa who make the daily trip to Rochester, either by car or by catching a bus in Spring Valley.”

Gumbel says the EDA has begun floating the idea via its Facebook site and emails to gauge interest, and so far there has been positive feedback which may help make the case to begin and end the daily routes in Chester. While nothing has officially been decided, the general idea is to possibly offer pick-ups in Chester around 5:10 and 6:10 a.m. and returns around 5:20 and 6:20 p.m. The EDA plans to make a decision on new service from Chester at its August meeting.

The EDA also has decided to branch out into yet another service area: nursing home transportation.

“With the EDA being the fiscal agent for Wildwood Grove and being involved with monthly meetings with the management company, I was informed we had a van that hadn’t been used for quite some time,” Jacobson explains. “We came into an agreement to assume responsibility of the van and invested a few hundred dollars to get it road-ready.”

Jacobson adds that with the uncertainty of the LeRoy clinic staying open, the EDA determined that Wildwood Grove Assisted Living residents may need transportation to another city for medical appointments.

“This service is available from companies in Rochester, and from personal experience, it is costly,” Jacobson says. “Hopefully we can do this for a lower fee and also make it available to neighboring communities.”