As fixed-route use slips, Bloomington Transit works on unified marketing, microtransit expansion

Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Bloomington Transit board featured a presentation on the development of a new program that will eventually be marketed as “Bloomington Transit for Everyone.”

The program is aimed at improving public awareness of public transit options and making it easier for riders to understand the system. The idea is to unify messaging across fixed-route service and the BLink microtransit program. BLink offers on-demand service, for a rider experience like Uber or Lyft.

The new initiative comes against the backdrop of a downward slide this year for fixed-route ridership.

Fixed-route downward trend

Fixed-route buses are the big vehicles that use the downtown transit center at 3rd and Walnut streets as a hub—they drive regular or “fixed” routes.

Ridership on Bloomington Transit’s fixed route bus service for October this year was 283,019 trips, down from 320,372 in October 2024—which is an 11.5% drop. That adds to a year-to-date slide, which now stands at 6.9% fewer rides compared to 2024. The raw numbers this year are still shy of 2 million rides, at 1,967,877, compared to 2,113,358 rides from January to October of 2024.

The numbers for 2025 so far are tracking more than a half million rides behind 2019 numbers, the last full year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. That’s about about a 24% drop from six years ago.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, planning and special projects manager Shelley Strimaitis told board members that fixed-route numbers are down at least in part due to a reconfiguration of Indiana University campus bus routes, which she thinks has shifted ridership from BT buses to IU campus buses. Strimaitis said she has an upcoming meeting with IU transportation officials to discuss route configurations.

New marketing initiative: “Bloomington Transit for Everyone”

Bloomington Transit is developing a new initiative called “Bloomington Transit for Everyone,” aimed at expanding public awareness not just for fixed routes, but for all of BT’s transit options and improving how riders understand the system. The campaign is planned for launch in March and April of 2026.

BT marketing and development manager Bryan Fyalkowski told board members on Tuesday that the campaign will focus on three main objectives: building stronger recognition of the Bloomington Transit brand, clarifying that the agency’s resources extend beyond any single service type, and helping customers understand how to navigate the full system.

The idea of “Bloomington Transit for Everyone” is not just to add new marketing and branding efforts. One big part of the effort will be to expand the BLink micro-transit service. (BT pronounces the acronym like the word “blink.”) .

Currently, the BLink microtransit service operates Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., charging $2 per on-demand ride, and serves three main zones: downtown, north, and east. But ridership on BLink has barely been measurable, since it was launched in the middle of last year. Under the planned “Bloomington Transit for Everyone” umbrella, BLink could expand to cover the entire Bloomington city limits.

The expansion could also extend BLink’s operating hours until 9 p.m., which would sync up with the existing BT Late Night program, which continues microtransit service from 6 p.m. to midnight. “The goal is to make sure every person who lives in the city knows they have a mobility option—Bloomington Transit—whether that’s a fixed route or BLink,” Fyalkowski said.

Timeline for “Bloomington Transit for Everyone”

• October 2025: Initial meeting with BT board committee
• November 2025: Presentation and discussion at full Board meeting
• December 2025: Public outreach campaign begins
• January 2026: Information gathering and additional discussion
• February 2026: Official proposal submitted to the Board
• March 2026: Major marketing and information rollout
• April 2026: Planned launch of “BT For Everyone”