There’s a new bus route to Winn-Dixie in Biloxi

Residents asked the mayor and council for a lift in north Biloxi and they’ll get a ride when Coast Transit Authority service begins on Dec. 18 on a trial basis.

“I think we’ll have great success with this route,” Coast Transit CEO Kevin Coggin told Biloxi Council on Tuesday.

The buses will run on 45-minute intervals from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Service will run between Winn-Dixie on Popp’s Ferry Road to the Bellmont Garden Apartments on Motsie Road, with stops along the way

“You have connectivity there with the rest of the system,” Coggin said of the Winn Dixie. “Very important.” Riders will be able to shop for groceries there or at Walmart Neighborhood Market on Popp’s Ferry Road, or change buses and travel to the malls, shops, churches and attractions across the Coast.

Coggin said there is a big population within two blocks of the route, which he said is generally how far people say they will walk to the bus. In the service area are Santa Maria del Mar senior living apartments, where residents came to the council meeting and asked for the buses, along with Virginia College, Cedar Lake Medical and the library.

The new route also opens up the Americans with Disabilities Act corridor for those who can’t use regular bus service. Those who live within three quarters of a mile of the new route and need wheelchair lift or other assistance will be eligible for door to door service, he said.

The council budgeted about $35,000, said Mike Leonard, Biloxi’s chief administrative officer, and the route is on a 6-month trial basis.

“It will take us to the end of May,” he said.

At one point, there was discussion of service continuing on to The Promenade in D’Iberville, but D’Iberville Council decided not to fund the service and the idea was dropped.

There was a lot of discussion about needing the route to get seniors and the handicapped to stores, Leonard said.

“We never talked about getting all the young people to work,” he said.

This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 4:07 PM with the headline "There’s a new bus route to Winn-Dixie in Biloxi."