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Madison County Transit, or MCT for short, is a bus and bike trail transportation system that serves the citizens of Madison County, which is located in Illinois approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of St. Louis. It was created in 1980 by the Madison County Board to improve transportation in Madison County,[1] and is a completely separate transit system from the St. Louis Metro Transit system which includes MetroLink, which doesn't operate into Madison County, though the buses connect with many MetroBus routes and even serve MetroLink stations in East St. Louis, Belleville and Downtown St. Louis.
 | |
 An MCT bus in downtown St. Louis | |
| Founded | 1980[1] |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1 Transit Way Pontoon Beach, Illinois, 62040, U.S. |
| Service area | Madison County, Illinois St. Clair County, Illinois St. Louis, Missouri |
| Service type | Bus Paratransit Bike trails |
| Alliance | St. Clair County Transit District Metro Transit |
| Routes | 26 bus routes 12 bike trails |
| Hubs | 5 transit centers 18 park and ride lots |
| Fleet | 88 Diesel buses 26 Paratransit vans[2] |
| Daily ridership | 5,100 (weekdays, Q3 2024)[3] |
| Annual ridership | 1,586,800 (2023)[4] |
| Chief executive | SJ Morrison[5] |
| Website | mct.org |
In 2023, the system had an annual ridership of 1,586,800, or about 5,900 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
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Madison County Transit operates a fleet of 94 buses on 28 routes, carries 3,200 riders daily, 80,000 monthly, and 980,000 riders annually as of 2021.[2][6] It includes an express bus service from towns across Madison County to downtown St. Louis,[7] cross county bus service for long-distance services within the county, and shuttle bus service, as well as a paratransit bus service known as ACT (Agency for Community Transit)[8] or Runabout.[9]
In 2008, MCT gave out Summer Break Youth Bus Passes to over 22,000 students ages 12–18.[10] Illinois Public Act 095-0708 became effective in February 2008, allowing all elderly/disabled people to ride bus service for free.[11][12] All buses are equipped with bike racks,[13] wheelchair lifts, handicapped seats,[2] and security cameras.[14] Buses can lower to ground level, giving easier access to elderly/disabled people.[2]
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MCT Local Routes (bus routes that only operate in Madison County)
- 1 Riverbend
- 2 Granite City Shuttle
- 4 Madison-Edwardsville
- 6 Roxana-Pontoon Beach
- 7 Alton-Edwardsville
- 8 Central Shuttle
- 9 Washington Shuttle
- 10 State & Elm Shuttle
- 11 Brown Shuttle
- 12 Bethalto Shuttle
- 13 Troy-Glen Carbon
- 13X Highland-SIUE Express
- 15 East Collinsville Shuttle
- 16 Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Shuttle
- 17 Cougar Shuttle
- 19 Edwardsville-Collinsville
- 20 Granite City-Pontoon Beach
- 21 West Collinsville Shuttle
- 22 University Shuttle
- 23 Gateway Commerce Center Shuttle
- 24X Riverbend-Gateway Commerce Center Express
- 25X Collinsville-Gateway Commerce Center Express
MCT Regional Routes (bus routes that travel to and from St. Louis or St. Clair County)
- 1X Riverbend Express
- 5 Tri-City Regional
- 14X Highland Express
- 16X Edwardsville-Glen Carbon Express
- 18 Collinsville Regional
- 20X Gateway Commerce Center Express
Special Service
- Muny Express
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Madison County Transit has five bus stations where each branch of service converge.
- Alton Station
- Collinsville Station
- Edwardsville Station
- Granite City Station
- Wood River Station
The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response. [15]
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
2,500,000
3,000,000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
The MCT Trails System was born in the early 1990s, to preserve rail corridors for future light rail possibilities and interim trail use.[2] In addition to the bus service, MCT owns and maintains over 135 miles (217 km) of bike trails throughout Madison County.[16] Madison County Transit is the only transit system in the country with an integrated bus and bikeway system.[17]
Trail list
- MCT Bluff Trail = 2 miles (3.2 km)
- MCT Confluence Trail = 20.5 miles (33.0 km)
- MCT Goshen Trail = 19.5 miles (31.4 km)
- MCT Monarch Valley Trail = 0.7 miles (1.1 km)
- MCT Nature Trail = 15 miles (24 km)
- MCT Nickel Plate Trail = 28.5 miles (45.9 km)
- MCT Quercus Grove Trail = 18.9 miles (30.4 km)
- MCT Riverbend Trail = 1.3 miles (2.1 km)
- MCT Ronald J. Foster Heritage Trail = 12.2 miles (19.6 km)
- MCT Schoolhouse Trail = 15.5 miles (24.9 km)
- MCT Silver Creek Trail = 1.4 miles (2.3 km)
- MCT Watershed Trail = 1.3 miles (2.1 km)
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Light rail
Madison County Transit is working together with the Bi-State Development Agency about the future Mass Transit in Greater St. Louis. There is a possibly to expand bus rapid transit and light rail routes to Granite City and Edwardsville. In 2005 a study was conducted by East-West Gateway Council of Governments to examine the possibilities of extending a light rail into Madison County showed positive results.[18][19] In 1997, voters in Madison County rejected a ½ cent sales tax which would have made Madison County next on the list of planned St. Louis MetroLink lines after the 3rd phase of the MetroLink's St. Clair County Extension was complete.[20] This phase would extend the line 5.3 miles east from its current terminus at the Shiloh-Scott Station to MidAmerica Airport.[20] Originally, this was part of the second phase's plan, but its own phase was later created due to low ridership projections, as of 2021 the expansion is currently projected to be finished by 2024 as a part of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's $45 billion Rebuild Illinois Capital Program, which awarded a $96 million grant toward the extension of MetroLink's mainline about 5.5 miles to a new passenger station at the airport.[21]
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