Thanks to a funding sponsorship with the Frankenmuth community, Saginaw Transit now is offering free rides to the national tourist attraction.
Daily departures, including Sundays when the rest of STARS is shut, are from the downtown Rosa Parks Transit Center. Times are 11:30 a.m., along with 2, 4 and 6 p.m., to the dropoff point at Uptown North on Main Street in Little Bavaria, gateway to attractions that go beyond chicken dinners and Christmas year-round. Buses return at 1, 3, 5 and 8 p.m.
Opportunities range from an individual getaway, to an afternoon with friends, to a field trip for the kids. With Frankenmuth footing the bill as an incentive for customers, the special service does not affect the general Saginaw Transit budget that is based on a 3.2-mill property tax for Saginaw city residents.
People would have the options of taking a regular bus downtown, being dropped off or finding a parking place nearby.
The ‘Muth shuttle is one more example of STARS aiming to fulfill the full title of Saginaw Transit Authority Regional Services. Other outreach includes routes to suburban business centers, Delta College and SVSU, and most recently for work shifts to Hemlock Semiconductor. A long-term goal of STARS supporters is a countywide property tax, similar to the city-to-county switch that converted the former Civic Center into The Dow Event Center.
