The Jeffco Express will resume normal bus routes Monday (May 4), OATS Transit has announced.
OATS stopped operating its two cross-county bus routes and delayed restarting its dedicated Arnold route March 20 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the company did provide services for essential transportation needs through its OATS Transit and JC Transit call-a-ride services during that time.
The restarting of the Jeffco Express bus service coincides with the state and Jefferson County recovery plans, which lift the stay-at-home orders in place to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Those orders are scheduled to end Monday.
OATS said even though the buses will begin running on regular schedules, riders will be asked to follow social-distancing measures by allowing extra space between themselves and fellow passengers when possible. Riders will be encouraged to wear masks and will be responsible for their own packages. Those measures will be in place through May 31.
OATS, which is based in Columbia and provides transportation services in 87 counties in Missouri, took over Jefferson County’s nonprofit Jeffco Express bus service on Dec. 1, 2019. The bus line previously was owned by the Jefferson County Community Partnership (JCCP), although OATS had operated the buses for the JCCP.
The Jeffco Express service offers two cross-county routes that mirror each other and complete three loops a day. One of those cross-county routes, the blue route, starts in De Soto and travels north to Arnold. The green route starts in Arnold and travels south. Both routes have stops in Hillsboro, Pevely and Festus.
The blue and green routes run between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays.
Jeffco Express also offered a dedicated Arnold route, but that route was ended after the Arnold City Council voted in December to stop providing matching funds. In March, however, City Council members reversed themselves and unanimously approved a one-year contract with OATS to restore the bus service at a lower cost than the previous contract. However, the new deal cut the number of loops around the city to four instead of five with a bus running from 7-9 a.m., 9:20-11:20 a.m., noon-2 p.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m.
OATS Transit service in Jefferson County also is available through advanced reservations by calling the office at 636-933-9380. Schedules may be found at oatstransit.org/jefferson.
