(COLUMBIA, MO) -
Columbia is excited to welcome the return of the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival to Stephens Lake Park, and COMO Connect will be providing free city bus service all weekend to help customers get around. Of course festival goers will benefit greatly from the free bus routes connecting Stephens Lake Park to downtown parking and area hotels, but customers all over Columbia can get around town for free the entire weekend, including extended evening hours and Sunday service when city buses normally do not run.
COMO Connect bus service schedule:
Friday, Sept 26: 6:25am - 10:00pm
Saturday, Sept 27: 10:00am - 10:00pm
Sunday, Sept 28: 11:00am - 9:00pm
Plus trips after last show each night
COMO Connect worked closely with Roots N Blues N BBQ festival organizers this year to develop a transportation plan that would benefit the community, and help festival goers get to and from the park as easily as possible. Bus trip planning was provided for key festival hotels, and signs will be displayed on each bus so customers will know exactly where to go. An additional bus will also be added onto the popular 10 Red Downtown route so that customers parking and traveling from downtown can see more frequent service and buses will be traveling in both directions on the route. The downtown route will be temporarily adjusted on the east end this weekend to reach the park's west entrance on Old Highway 63.
Getting customers home safely after the festival ends each night is also a big priority of the transportation plan, so COMO Connect will be providing additional buses for a late night departure from the park to take customers downtown, to hotels, and along neighborhood routes.
The city's Multi-Modal Manager, Drew Brooks, says "The city is excited to be part of this year's Roots N Blues N BBQ festival because it's important for our community to be able to provide safe transportation for our local customers as well as our numerous out of town guests. The free rides and extended hours over the weekend will be a great opportunity for everyone to easily try public transit and become more familiar with it."
COMO Connect staff will also be closely monitoring the actual use of public transit by the community on Sunday as seven-day service is a frequent request from customers.
Customers are reminded that there will be no parking available at Stephens Lake Park during the festival.
For more information about the festival, visit www.RootsNBluesNBBQ.com.
For more information on COMO Connect bus service visit www.COMOconnect.org.
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