City rolls out bus changes

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Monday saw the city of Mankato roll out changes to the city’s bus system.

It’s part of the city’s Transit Development Plan that will see more changes come in the next couple of years, but the changes to bus routes were rolled out early.

Stops were added at ECHO Food Shelf, Dewey Lane near the Salvation Army, and the Madison East center, The River Hills Mall stop was relocated to the corner of the Target building and the County Road 12 stop was removed.

The city says that the changes were made through community engagement, and that they hope that the new routes reflect the needs of the community

“We identified some essential services that we could provide the community right away without having to wait. Most of the changes identified in the plan will take place in 2025. As I said these are changes that we don’t have to wait on,” said Shawn Schloesser.

The added stops aim to expand access to services around Mankato, with ECHO and the Salvation Army providing community services, and the Madison East Center has become a hub of medical services, as well as housing the Veterans Affairs clinic and the Post Office.

Community service leaders say that the added stops go a long way in lowering the barrier of entry for people to use the services.

“The public transportation making something like this available to the masses is just a wonderful thing because now it really doesn’t even matter how you get to us because you can get to us a lot more easily,” Schloesser said.

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