Jefferson Lines cuts back on La Crosse service

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Jan 9, 2008 | by Cahalan, Steve

Jefferson Lines will cut back on its bus service to La Crosse starting next Tuesday, the Minneapolis-based company said.

The company hopes to return to the current schedule, possibly by early summer, Regional Sales Manager George Kell said Tuesday He said the cutbacks are because of a nationwide shortage of drivers, low revenue from the route that serves La Crosse and the rising cost of fuel and insurance.

The sole provider of inter-city bus service to La Crosse, Jefferson lines now has one bus daily to Minneapolis and to Madison. The southbound bus leaves La Crosse at 3:10 p.m. and the northbound bus leaves the city at 3:45 p.m.

Starting Tuesday, one bus will run from La Crosse to Minneapolis on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and one bus from La Crosse to Madison on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Departure times will not change.

"We don't want to pull completely out of the community," Keil said.

Jefferson Lines will continue to study the route and look for areas of possible improvement, he said. "Our goal is to ensure that we are able to continue to serve the communities on this route."

Keil said he did not have passenger counts for La Crosse.

Since August 2004, Jefferson Lines has been offering service between Minneapolis and Madison via La Crosse. It replaced Greyhound as La Crosses sole intercity bus company.

Jefferson Lines buses stop at the La Crosse Amtrak depot at 601 St. Andrew St.

Plans call for Jefferson Lines to continue operating from the Amtrak depot until the city's new transit center is built at Jay and Third streets in downtown La Crosse. The current schedule calls for breaking ground on the center this spring, and having the center operating in summer 2009, said Keith Carlson, the city's transit manager.

Carlson said he had not heard about Jefferson Lines service cutback and will look into it.