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Fourteen months after Kosciusko Area Bus Service began the Lake City Loop, KABS General Manager Kristin Rude gave the Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission an update Wednesday on how the deviated fixed bus route is going.
She was accompanied by Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) Senior Transit Planner II Jeremiah Cox and MACOG Transit Planner Aidan McHugh. The two men have been involved with the planning of the Lake City Loop from the first day.
“We provided a preliminary report on our first year of operation,” she told the commission before going over some highlights of that report. “The first year of service, we served 2,307 passengers with the Lake City Loop, averaging about nine passengers per service day. Our first successful benchmark really was working at getting the ridership up to two (per hour), so we’re not quite there yet.”
Rude said when the commission reached out for an update, KABS was starting talks about doing their year-end analysis and looking at what’s working and what needs improvement.
“Our busiest hours on the Loop occur right around 1 o’clock, but really that 10 to 4 o’clock timeframe are our busiest hours,” she said. “We feel like the route has successfully provided an alternate source of transportation for individuals who - if they don’t have a car and our demand response services are full - this is an option to get people to where they need to go.”
The Loop had 500 deviation trips in the first year with 79 unique locations. Their highest ridership stops were Walmart, Warsaw Community Public Library, Buffalo and Market streets, The Village at Winona, Martin’s and Kroger’s. The lower ridership stops included Lincoln Elementary School, the stop along Ind. 15 and Anchorage and some others.
“So, as we move forward, we are looking at how we can improve, what we can change. I know this group specifically, and others, are expressing concern with the stop along 15 and that is one we are evaluating based on the low usage and how can we better utilize that stop,” Rude stated.
They’re looking at updating that stop to along Anchorage Road by Bowen Health instead and completely removing the stop at Ind. 15 and Anchorage. Rude said KABS gets a lot of deviation requests to Bowen so the stop would be better utilized if it were moved there.
Additionally, they’re looking at some other potential new stops, but those have not been “100%” decided on, she said.
One stop may be along CR 200N at the new Parkview campus. They have talked to Parkview about a stop there and Rude said Parkview was supportive of that.
Another new stop might be the Marketplace of Warsaw. Rude said they would love to be able to serve a little bit more on the east side of town.
“And then evaluating our low-performing stops outside of what we discussed. Also, kind of considering the hours, the service hours and what’s high demand: Is that 10 to 5? Could we better utilize that 7 to 10, it’s really 7:30 to 10, with our demand response. We field a lot of denials in that time, so kind of look at where can we shift to better meet the community needs. Evaluating our deviation zone is another option, and potentially looking at increasing that from a quarter of a mile to a half mile,” she stated.
They’re also exploring the fares and if they are a barrier to the public. If they are a barrier, how can they remove that barrier?
“Of course, there’s costs involved so (there’s not a lot of options) as to what maybe we could do to offer free fares,” she said, adding it’s all just planning right now but KABS is committed to making changes to make the Lake City Loop as successful as possible and best serve the community.
Cost is $1 per ride for adults, and any deviation is an additional 50 cents. Children under 8 years old ride free with a limit of two children per fare-paying adult. Monthly passes may be purchased for $20.
Cox reminded Rude there is survey. She said they are currently in a survey period so a survey was developed for passengers and stakeholders and they really want feedback. The survey is open through Friday and can be found through Cardinal Services’ Facebook page.
“We’re going to look at all of that, update our final report and then as we look at moving forward with any changes, we’re going to consider that,” she said.
Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins asked if the stop at the intersection of Buffalo and Market streets has been problematic with the flower beds, etc. Rude said she hasn’t heard of any concerns from the drivers regarding that stop, other than sometimes it’s difficult to see passengers there. She hasn’t heard of any concerns from a safety standpoint.
Warsaw Police Department Capt. Brad Kellar asked if fares were cash only or were there any options for digital payment.
“At this time, it is cash only,” Rude replied. “We do offer the monthly pass, which can be paid for by check. It’s actually, ironically, my strategic goal for 2027 to try to figure out some way to bring in electronic payment. We have barriers just because our costs are so low and everyone wants to charge a per-transaction fee also. So there are some barriers but it is a goal we have.”
Traffic Administrator Lance Grubbs said the commission appreciated KABS and MACOG coming to the meeting to provide the update. He said he was glad it’s as successful as it sounds like and he sees it around a lot.
“We were excited to get the bus route. That’s been awesome,” Rude replied. “And if you’d like, once we have some final decisions on changes we’re going to make, we’ll continue to collaborate with this group so I can come back for a further update once we know more of where we’re going to land.”
Other Business
In other business, Warsaw Public Works Director Dustin Dillon updated the Commission on Bison Lane. He reported the Warsaw Common Council approved the ordinance Monday to make Bison Lane a northbound one-way street from Fort Wayne Street up to the alley by Nye Youth Cabin. As soon as that’s advertised in the newspaper, the signage will be updated there.
WPD Capt. Joel Beam commended Dillon on the work that was done to Patterson Road, saying it drives “amazing” and the Street Department did a “fantastic” job on it. He appreciated the work that was done on it.
“I assume you’re done with road projects right now?” Beam asked Dillon.
Dillon said for the most part, yeah, and they’re winding down on road projects for 2026. He said he did appreciate all the work that was completed on Parker Street extended, Husky Trail, Patterson Road and CR 75N.
“It turned out fantastic,” Dillon said, giving thanks to the public for being patient as it’s an extremely busy area out there.
Grubbs said CR 200N out by R & B Car Co. also turned out nice. “That is really nice. If you haven’t been out that way, it’s a big improvement,” he said.
One more thing, Dillon said, the bid letting for the Detroit and Pope street temporary project will be Nov. 20. Construction will take place in summer 2027 and includes making Pope Street onto Detroit and Detroit onto Pope right-turns only.
The Traffic Safety Commission will not meet in December due to the holidays. Their next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6 in the council chambers of City Hall.
