The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA) will be altering their current airport bus route next month to no longer include the airport, the authority told the city’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

According to BJCTA Planning Manager Brittnee Thomas, the number 20 bus route, currently known as the airport route, will be restructured to run from the city’s central transit station (on Morris Avenue), through the Kingston neighborhood, and end at the east transit station (in Woodlawn) starting this May. Currently, the route takes riders from the central transit station, through Kingston, and ends at the Birmingham airport.

By rerouting riders to the east transit station, Thomas said the BJCTA is hoping for decreased transit time and greater mobility throughout the metro.

If people in the Kingston area who take the number 20 route need to get on another bus to go to a different side of the metro, they currently have to ride all the way to the airport and back to the central station, Thomas said. But on the updated route, riders will have two opportunities to get on connecting buses at the central and east transit stations.

Thomas said she is hoping this will also increase ridership. From Jan. 2020-Dec. 2023 the airport stop averaged about nine riders a day and the Kingston stop saw about six or seven riders a day.

Birmingham City Council President Darrell O’Quinn asked Thomas if it was worth it to keep the route given the low ridership. She expressed her thoughts that low ridership on route 20 was due to people’s difficulty accessing grocery stores, their jobs, and hospitals. She is optimistic that the route’s increased connectivity will be able to lessen these issues and increase ridership.

How can people get to the airport?

For people in the eastern part of the metro that still need to get to the airport, Thomas said a micro transit option would be available starting in May to take the place of the bus route.

She added that anyone in the micro transit zone surrounding the airport and Kingston neighborhood would also be able to use micro transit to get to places nearer to them, like a nearby grocery store.

Birmingham’s micro transit service, On-Demand, was first introduced to the city in February of 2019. Rides cost a flat rate of $1.50 and Via’s rideshare technology works by matching riders heading in the same direction and placing them in the same vehicle.

Drivers go through background checks and insurance verification before they can drive with Via according to the company website.

To book a ride with On-Demand, people within the maps’ coverage zones can either call 205-236-0768 or download the Via app from their phone’s app store.

Over the next month the BJCTA will be holding meetings to assess reaction to the route 20 update. For announcements of when and where these meetings will be, Thomas said people can ask their neighborhood presidents or visit the BJCTA website at https://maxtransit.org/?fbclid=IwAR2hBtkhyByKanNb4WZMxxUflDPwMb0PJBwkus5WqdJ70Gbkwuvs2bzgYo4_aem_AXPNVIYEEXVzSGz1ZHx9EVj9FNXikIbogI4eg_oegmLHr1ZEqbRWz_EZM0y4FTYGYb1CQj7kX1NW58h7G2KzbNsO.

O’Quinn said he didn’t predict the changes would be a big issue due to the low number of riders. But he wants to talk to constituents before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee endorsed the changes, he said.

For more information on micro transit in Birmingham or to view BJCTA route maps, visit the website, listed above.