MPOs look at bus route linking counties
NORTH PORT — Area residents could have another way to go back and forth between North Port and Port Charlotte for work and play if a fixed bus route between the two cities becomes reality but there are no plans yet to link Englewood.
“Right now at this stage, we’re doing a data analysis to find out if it’s possible for a bus route and do you have that potential ridership between the two counties ... to make this route feasible,” said Nick Lepp, a senior transportation planner for Renaissance Planning Group, at a joint meeting Monday of the Sarasota/Manatee and Charlotte-Punta Gorda Metropolitan Planning Organizations at the Morgan Family Community Center. Renaissance is a planning firm contracted by the MPO boards to do a demand study.