Interurban bus service coming to township

Local bus service is coming to Laketown Township in about a month, opening up low-cost public transportation for residents to get to clinics, schools, restaurants and entertainment and bringing others to experience parks and attractions in Laketown Township.

The Interurban Transit Authority, a demand-response bus service based in Saugatuck-Douglas, will start serving Laketown Township for a trial run from May 1 through October 31, 2025.

The fare for a ride during standard hours is $1 for adults and 50 cents for children, seniors and those with disabilities. Laketown is paying the Interurban $7 per ride to cover the Interurban’s expenses. The cost to Laketown Township to cover the transportation experiment is included in the budget the township unanimously approved in March.

Supervisor and Interim Manager Steven Ringelberg said he supports expanding the Interurban service into Laketown because “residents want it.”  He announced the new plan on the show on WYVN 92.7 FM on Sunday, March 30, with host Greg Muncey, a Saugatuck City Council member and representative to the Interurban Transit Authority board.

If the trial period is a success, the township will look at permanent funding in 2026, possibly with a millage.

The service area

The bus line will service the entire township, allowing young people to get to school and older residents who might not be able to drive to get to medical appointments, Ringelberg said.

People who want a ride call (269) 857-1418 and set a time for a bus to pick them up at their location and then take them to another spot in Laketown Township, Saugatuck Township, the cities of Douglas, Saugatuck or Fennville and the wineries in Ganges Township.

The Interurban also provides prescription delivery services from Saugatuck Drug Store, 201 Butler St., for $2 and food delivery services from many Saugatuck-Douglas restaurants for a $3 charge.

Hours

Bus service hours, January through December, are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Extended hours in June, July and August include Friday and Saturday evenings until 11 p.m. $3.00 fare per adult.

For more on fares and other information, visit https://www.saugatuckinterurban.org/.

More information will be available soon on the township’s website https://laketowntwp.org/

How and why

Becky Carten-Crandell, executive director of the Interurban Transit Authority, was at a regional Michigan Department of Transportation meeting and mentioned she’d like to expand the bus service to help more people get to work, school and entertainment destinations. The next day, she received a call from Ringelberg and talks started on extending the service north into the township.

“I want people to be able to connect to neighborhood transit,” she said.

In the past five years, the bus service has carried 283,481 riders. In 2024, the eight buses transported 74,594 people.

“Our riders are seniors, people with disabilities – all our buses are handicapped accessible with lifts — underserved populations, children, adults and tourists,” she said.

Public transportation gives people access to jobs (Laketown residents work in the Saugatuck-Douglas area in the summer), education (Saugatuck Public Schools and Calvary Schools are in the area), health care (there is a Holland Hospital primary clinic at 6490 Blue Star Highway in Saugatuck Township), groceries (there is a grocery store in Douglas and a community food bank at Christian Neighbors in Douglas) and community engagement (Saugatuck and Douglas are known for their art studios, Saugatuck Center for Arts, festivals and history center, museum and library).

Mass transit also means lower carbon emissions (80 percent of the Interurban’s fleet is propane driven) and reduced demand for parking.

History

The Interurban bus service began in 1980 with dispatch services in Saugatuck City Hall. In 1990, it moved to its current location at 100 E. Wiley Road in Douglas. It has eight buses.

The modern bus service derives its name from the historic railway line that was originally started by the Holland and Lake Michigan Railway Company in the late 1890s and in 1900 was acquired by the Grand Rapids, Holland and Lake Michigan Railway Company. The Interurban railway once connected Grand Rapids and Holland to Saugatuck with tracks through Laketown Township.

Reminders of the train system that stopped service in 1926 dot Laketown Township, from a bridge in Sanctuary Woods Park, 4750 66^th St., to a wait station at Farview Park, 6257 138^th Ave. At Farview, the Consumers Power right-of-way, a cleared area by the big pond, is where tracks used to run.