Capital Transit is restoring service as of Monday to two routes that were suspended last December due to driver shortages, along with adding earlier service on core routes between Douglas/downtown Juneau and the Mendenhall Valley, according to an announcement by the city-operated bus system Friday.

[Two Capital Transit routes suspended amid driver shortage]

The change to weekday core service, with the first bus scheduled to leave the Valley Transit Center for downtown Juneau at 6 a.m., and the first Douglas bus departing Treadwell Arena for downtown at 6:28 a.m., was done with commuters in mind, Capital Transit Superintendent Rich Ross said in a prepared statement.

“We heard from our ridership that our existing schedule lacked an option to get to the hospital – whether for work or for care – before 7 a.m.,” he said, “The earlier service on Routes 1 and 4 fills this previously identified transportation gap for residents in our community.”

The next valley bus departs at 6:45 a.m. and subsequent ones every 30 minutes until 6:15 p.m., after which they operate hourly until the last full round trip at 10:15 p.m. The Douglas busses depart every 30 minutes until 6:28 p.m., after which they continue hourly until after 10 p.m.

The Route 5 University Connector between Valley Transit Center and the University of Alaska Southeast will offer weekday service hourly during peak hours, with the first bus departing the center at 7:47 a.m. and the last at 4:47 p.m., with no departures between 10:47 a.m. and 12:47 p.m., according to the revised schedule.

The Route 6 Riverside/Airport Connector, which provided the only daytime service on Riverside Drive as part of its Mendenhall Valley loop, is scheduled to depart hourly from the Valley Transit Center starting at 7:17 a.m. and ending at 5:17 p.m., with no departures between 10:17 a.m. and 1:17 p.m.

The changes will also include timepoint changes to routes 7, 8, 9 and 10, according to the city’s announcement. Schedule information is online at juneaucapitaltransit.org/schedules.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.