MTA Flint

Service began in 1972, with the fleet consisting of 26 buses serving the city of Flint with 14 routes and hourly service.

Upgrades and expansions

Since 2009, the MTA has made several upgrades and expansions to its fleet and facilities.

The Flint MTA received a $7.985 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration that was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for new Project 25 digital radio dispatch equipment and mobile data terminals, new intelligent transportation system software and equipment, preventive maintenance, and the purchase and installation of new signage and security equipment.

Starting in October 2012, the MTA began refurbishing 36 of its buses, extending their lives by 6–8 years. On the same day, they announced their board of directors approved a $4.2 million deal to purchase 60 propane powered mini-buses that replaced the diesel-engine vans used by Your Ride.

The MTA purchased an additional 35 propane-powered mini-buses for their Your Ride service, nearly doubling their previous fleet, starting in the spring of 2013. The report also said the MTA Your Ride service purchased another 62 mini-buses in fall 2014, for a grand total of 160 vehicles.

In September 2016, the MTA received a $15 million grant ($12.8 million from the Federal Transit Administration and $2.2 million from the Michigan Department of Transportation) that were used to buy 32 compressed natural gas buses. They replaced some buses that were 20 years old and had over 600,000 miles on them. Some of the money was used to train mechanics and drivers in conjunction with a workforce training development program at Baker College of Flint.

The MTA made upgrades to its Davison service center on M-15 (N. State Rd.) in the summer of 2017.

The MTA purchased the former Baker College Center for Transportation Technology complex at Dort Highway and I-69 for $1 million in the fall of 2018. It will be used to house its Ride to Wellness vehicles. Other buildings on the grounds will be used for bus driver training, a school-to-work program for mechanics training, and vehicle storage and maintenance.

Services

Local fixed routes

Fourteen standard, all-day routes are provided within the city of Flint and its inner suburbs, as well as nine peak hour services (which feature different numbers for each variation of the route). Most routes begin at the MTA Service Center in downtown Flint.

Unless otherwise noted, all local routes run every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends. Each route (except 3) takes roughly one hour to complete a round trip.

Regional routes

The MTA operates an hourly intercity route between downtown Flint and Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills, which links the system to Metro Detroit and its SMART network. The system also includes intercity bus routes from Flint to Brighton and Howell.

Proposed

Since January 2014, the MTA has been attempting to secure government funding to provide intercity service between Bay City and Detroit.