How it started
History
The BUS system was originally made up of two routes – the previously independent Concord Route and the Elkhart-Goshen route. The Concord route was established in 1986, providing a link between western Elkhart and Dunlap. It was operated by Concord Township trustee and funded using local dollars. In 1999, MACOG launched the Elkhart-Goshen route, linking together the cities of Elkhart and Goshen and establishing the BUS transit system. At the time, the system used minibuses to transport passengers.
The system was expanded in 2003 with the addition of North Pointe Route, which linked downtown Elkhart and the North Pointe Mall in the city's northern section. On December 20, 2006, MACOG replaced the mini-buses with wheelchair-accessible trolley-style buses and gave the system its current name.
In September 2009, MACOG launched the Bittersweet/Mishawaka Route, linking Elkhart and city of Mishawaka's eastern neighborhoods. It was designed to sync up with South Bend TRANSPO's Route 9. The routes meet at Martin's Supermarket, arriving and departing within minutes of each other. As of this writing, there are no free transfers between the systems.
On February 1, 2010, service on two of the four Interurban Trolley routes were changed. The North Pointe route was extended to the new Martin's and Goodwill stores at County Road 4 and Cassopolis St. (St. Rd. 19). The Bittersweet/Mishawaka route got new stop at the Elkhart General Hospital.
On August 16, 2010, the new Elkhart East/West Route was added. It is made up of two sets of loops that run through Elkhart's western and eastern neighborhoods, intersecting at the system's transit hub. The route was originally conceived as a way to fill a service gap identified in the 2007 MACOG coordinated transportation plan.
From Wikipedia’s article on Interurban Trolley, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2