Joplin’s Sunshine Lamp Trolley service, which relaunched in early February, offers 67 stops using three fixed routes from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. covering most of the city. So far, about 50 people a day are using the service.
Joplin Transportation Coordinator Gina Thompson says, after two and a half years without public transportation, the city recognized a need to relaunch the system.
“It was important to the city, it was important to me, for us to relaunch that trolley after it’s been on such a long suspension," said Thompson. "It was really on everybody’s heart and we just wanted to get the buses rolling as soon as we could make that happen.”
Rides are $2 each, and the Half-Fare Program is offered to individuals aged 60 and older, active military/veterans, disabled citizens and Medicare recipients.
“Jeremy Hagerman is our new assistant director over transit, and he and I have looked together at other agencies to see what they are doing well and what’s working, and we started putting new processes in place,” said Thompson.
One of those new processes includes changing the size of the buses the city runs.
The original public transit system was suspended due to a lack of drivers who held a CDL. Now, the city has moved to smaller buses, allowing them to hire drivers who have chauffeur licenses and offer them higher pay. To do so, the city received funding from the Federal Transportation Administration and the State of Missouri.
While Thompson said public transit is a concern across the U.S., she's excited about the future of the transportation system in Joplin.