Route 12 is detoured south of Gharrett St & Briggs St due to poor road conditions. All bus stops south of this intersection, and along 55th St and 23rd Ave are currently closed.
Route 12 Detoured Due to Poor Roads
Author: Mountain Line
Routes Delayed Due to Weather
Due to icy road conditions, several routes may be delayed.
Route 12 Detoured Due to Weather
UPDATE AS OF 7PM 11/7/22: ROUTE 12 HAS RETURNED TO NORMAL ROUTING. Please disregard the below.
Due to unsafe road conditions, the Route 12 is currently detoured. The bus will continue straight on SW Higgins as it turns into 39th St, travel up Gharrett St to Briggs St, then return to 39th as indicated in the map via red line.
All bus stops along Pattee Creek Dr, Whitaker, High Park, and those south of Gharrett & Briggs are currently closed. We will post updates as conditions change.
Bus Stop Improvement Work Continues
Throughout October, Mountain Line continues to make progress on its Bus Stop Improvement Project, which is aimed at improving safety, increasing accessibility, and maximizing efficiency. Part of this work involves moving some bus stops to safer locations along our routes and / or condensing multiple stops along a specific corridor into fewer stops to ensure we remain on time and efficient.
This month, riders will notice new bus stop signs and some changes along Route 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 14. Specific changes are outlined below. To learn more about our Bus Stop Improvement Project, click here.
Route 4 Bus Stop Updates:
- Riders will note several new bus stop signs at various points along the route.
- There is a new Inbound stop at Bonner School as shown below.
- The Easy Street Outbound stop has been moved further east, as shown below.
Route 4 & 5 Bus Stop Updates:
- The Inbound bus stop outside Roemer’s Tire has been moved one block east as shown below.
Route 6 Bus Stop Updates:
- The Outbound stop on Higgins Ave & Tremont St has been moved to the far side of the intersection to improve safety, as shown below; new bus stop location is orange.
- Stops along S Russell St have been consolidated to maximize efficiency, with Inbound and Outbound stops now located at S Russell St & McDonald Ave. Updates shown below; new stop locations are orange.
Route 7 Bus Stop Updates:
- The Inbound and Outbound Stops near S Orange St & S 2nd St W have been relocated south to S 3rd St W. New stop locations are indicated in orange below. These changes overlap Route 9.
- There is a new Outbound bus stop on the corner of W Bickford St, shown in orange below.
- Bus stops along Stephens Ave, between Mount Ave and Brooks St, have been consolidated as shown below to maximize efficiency. Stops in yellow with black “x”s have been removed. Orange indicates a new stop location. Blue indicates an existing stop that remains unchanged.
Route 8 Bus Stop Updates:
- The Outbound bus stop at Gerald Ave has been relocated to Ronald Ave. New stop location is shown in orange below.
- Two Route 8 bus stops on S 10th St W & S Johnson St have been removed to maximize efficiency. Removed stops are shown in yellow with black “x”s below. (The blue dot indicates a Route 2 bus stop that is unchanged.)
Operating Regular Service Oct 10
Mountain Line will be operating regular service Monday, October 10, which is Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Construction Impacting Some Route 8 Stops
Due to construction, the following Route 8 bus stops are temporarily closed:
- Eaton St & Aspen Grove Loop
- Eaton St & S 10th St W
- Eaton St & Emily Ct
Thank you for your patience during this time.
Sat, Sept 24: Market Trolley Cancelled
Due to a staffing shortage, today, 9/24, the Saturday Market Trolley is cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Our other routes will still get you downtown; find schedules here.
Sat, Sept 24: Route Detours During Homecoming Parade
From 8:45 AM – 12:00 PM Saturday, September 24, Routes 1, 6, 7 and 12 will be detouring around South Ave to accommodate the UM Homecoming parade. Stops shown below will be closed during this time and routes may not be running on schedule until the parade concludes. Please note the Bus Tracker may not reflect these stop closures in real time.
Mountain Line Bus Operator Receives Statewide Acclaim
MISSOULA, Mont.— Bryan Ursery has been providing safe, reliable service to Missoulians as a Mountain Line bus operator for 23 years. His safety record is equally long, having never had a preventable accident in all that time. Ursery’s dedication to his field, his outstanding customer service to his riders, and his encouragement of his peers earned him the Carey Pope Award, equivalent to a lifetime achievement, bestowed by the Montana Transit Association at their annual conference last week.
“Bryan always goes above and beyond to make riders, coworkers, and community members feel welcomed and valued,” said Jennifer Sweten, Director of Operations. “He remembers the smallest details shared about your life and asks follow-up questions months later when you board his bus or pass him in the hall. He is respected by peers and loved by riders.”
Ursery has also won multiple internal agency awards for his dedication to his position since starting with Mountain Line in 1999. At the agency level, Ursery has won “Operations Employee of the Year” four times; “Perfect Attendance” seven times; and “Outstanding Customer Service” three times.
He also continues to prioritize honing his own skills as an operator and has been a frequent competitor in the Bus Roadeo, a state and national event that pits bus operators from different agencies against each other in a safety-based obstacle course. Ursery has won the Montana statewide Roadeo Division I title six times (’00, ’04, ’07, ’11, ’14, ’19) and took first place in the American Public Transportation Association’s national Customer Service Challenge at the International Bus Roadeo in Memphis, Tennessee in 2011.
“Bryan is an exemplary employee and bus operator, one we are lucky to have on our team,” said Sweten. “He is humble, invested in his transit family, and well deserving of this award.”
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Mountain Line launched seven-day and seven-night service in July 2022, putting 30% more service on the road. The agency was named the top public transit agency in North America in its size in 2021, earning the American Public Transportation Association Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award. Mountain Line also won the Montana Transit Association statewide safety award in 2021. Committed to a zero-tailpipe-emissions fleet by 2035, Mountain Line has a long-standing commitment to clean air, public health and a more sustainable future. Since becoming a zero-fare system in 2015, ridership has increased nearly 70 percent, to average more than 1.5 million rides annually, pre-pandemic. Mountain Line helps students get to school, employees get to work, and seniors and those living with disabilities stay active, mobile and independent. By reducing the number of single vehicles on the road, lessening traffic congestion and investing in electric buses, Mountain Line benefits us all.
Senator Tester’s Staff Tours Mountain Line Facility
MISSOULA, Mont.— Mountain Line welcomed Tim VanReken, a Legislative Fellow with U.S. Senator Jon Tester’s Office (D-MT), for a facility tour Thursday. VanReken spent the morning reviewing Mountain Line’s electrification efforts and learning about the agency’s plans to convert to a zero-tailpipe-emissions fleet by 2035.
“We’ve learned a lot in the last three years about charging infrastructure, battery capacity, and the mechanics of maintaining an electric fleet,” said Jennifer Sweten, Director of Operations at Mountain Line. “We’re sharing what we’ve learned with officials and other transit agencies to demonstrate the value of federal support and to help other agencies transition as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Mountain Line was awarded a $10 million Low or No Emissions grant from the Federal Transit Administration on August 16, which will allow the agency to purchase 10 new battery-electric buses and bring its fleet to 90% electric by the end of the decade. The Low or No Emissions Grant Program received a $1.05 billion increase in funding as a direct result of Tester’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; both Tester and U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) provided bi-partisan support for Mountain Line’s most recent grant application. Two other Montana agencies also received FTA funding for bus infrastructure improvements.
“Every day, folks in the Treasure State rely on public transit to commute to work, get their kids to school, shop at their local businesses, and enjoy all that Big Sky Country has to offer,” Tester said in an email to Mountain Line staff preceding VanReken’s visit. “This funding for upgrading buses and bus stations across Montana will pay dividends for working families, small businesses, and our climate. I’m proud to have secured cutting-edge investments like this one that will modernize Montana’s transit infrastructure and power our local economies for years to come.”
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Mountain Line launched seven-day and seven-night service in July 2022, putting 30% more service on the road. The agency was named the top public transit agency in North America in its size in 2021, earning the American Public Transportation Association Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award. Mountain Line also won the Montana Transit Association statewide safety award in 2021. Committed to a zero-tailpipe-emissions fleet by 2035, Mountain Line has a long-standing commitment to clean air, public health and a more sustainable future. Since becoming a zero-fare system in 2015, ridership has increased nearly 70 percent, to average more than 1.5 million rides annually, pre-pandemic. Mountain Line helps students get to school, employees get to work, and seniors and those living with disabilities stay active, mobile and independent. By reducing the number of single vehicles on the road, lessening traffic congestion and investing in electric buses, Mountain Line benefits us all.
