GoBus highlights expanded service in Smith County

KILGORE — The Director of Transportation for East Texas Council of Governments, Vince Huerta, was recently commemorated by the Texas Transit Association. On Tuesday Huerta told KTBB, “It’s a team accomplishment. The staff should be the ones receiving the award.” Huerta continued,”We are here to serve the community, we are public transit on the rural side of things. So certainly anyone can ride the bus.” More information can be found by clicking the link. https://www.gobustransit.com/. Notable accomplishments during his tenure include a 40% increase in ridership since 2018.

Lindsay Vanderbilt told KTBB with Huerta’s leadership GoBus has expanded and gotten smaller at the same time. “Leaders were asking questions about these big buses having a lot of empty seats. What does that mean on gas? Well Vince heard their critiques and found a solution. What we are doing there we have a new fleet, 12 smaller models they use less gas.” Vanderbilt continued, “they are more efficient, they are easier for our drivers to operate and therefore improves our safety performance as well.” Huerta was able to initiate a fare reduction to $2 per trip and eliminate fares altogether for veterans and active military personnel. Huerta went on to talk about a new initiative in Smith County, that he hopes will spread to other counties. “We are starting out service in the evenings and the weekends.”