Saluki Express
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
 A Saluki Express bus seen on the campus of SIU | |
| Founded | August 1995 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Southern Illinois University Carbondale |
| Locale | Carbondale, Illinois and SIU |
| Service area | Carbondale |
| Service type | Bus service, paratransit |
| Routes | 4 |
| Annual ridership | estimated around 100,000 (2024) |
| Operator |
|
| Website | Saluki Express |
Saluki Express is a provider of mass transportation in Carbondale, Illinois. It was created as a way to provide transportation services to the students and staff of Southern Illinois University Carbondale at no cost.[1] Fixed-route transit services are provided to the university and residents of Carbondale. The transportation itself is provided via contraction to local transit providers with JAX Mass Transit serving as the latest provider. Their ridership is lumped with the rest of the transportation data of JAX. They claimed over 200,000 rides in 2024, the year they took over Saluki Express operations,[2] which nearly doubled their ridership number from 2023.[3]
The Beck Era
Saluki Express began providing service at the beginning of the 1995 fall semester. The project was overseen by the Saluki Mass Transit Advisory Board. The university contracted Beck Bus Transportation to provide the actual bus services. The Carbondale City Council also provided additional funding. The first year of operation was considered a success.[4] In 2004, they announced a record-setting ridership of 326,403.[5] In 2005, the university announced they would be increasing police patrol on Saluki Express busses. There was no official reasoning for the decision apart from it a public affair opportunity for campus police.[6] In 2010, a Saluki Express bus was involved in an accident where it crashed into the side of a movie theater.[7] There were often issues of routes being adjusted to eliminated to fit with SIU's locations. This was notable in 2012 when Saluki Express eliminated their route to Carterville after the relocation of their rebuilt Transportation Education Center to outside of Southern Illinois Airport.[8] Saluki Express has also had to deal with constant threats of budget and service cuts as well as route eliminations.[9]
The Rides Era
In 2018, it was decided that Rides Mass Transit District would be contracted to operate Saluki Express beginning in June of that year. This opened the campus up to the use of RMTD's services and there was word of a potential app in development for students.[10] 2019 saw many changes which included enhancing safety measures[11] as well as more route changes and a new QR freature for easier boarding.[12] They would improve on the QR method by allowing for over the phone fare payments via app for non-SIU riders.[13] However, bad news came for Saluki Express and Rides Mass Transit District after a revision based on the 2020 Census when the United States Census Bureau and Federal Transit Administration rewrote the qualifications for urbanized zones which saw the dissolving of the Carbondale Urbanized Zone and separation of Carbondale from Marion and the rest of Williamson County. This resulted in a loss of $2 million in funding. This also meant that RMTD as well as Jackson County Mass Transit District would need to streamline any services to make up for the loss. This would ultimately result in the decision of RMTD surrendering their Saluki Express responsibilities to JCMTD.[14]
The JAX Era
Jackson County Mass Transit District would begin operation of the Saluki Express at the start of the fall 2024 semester. This new joint venture saw the rebranding of Saluki Express routes and continuation of night services.[15][16] Rides Mass Transit District would still serve SIU as a stop on their Marion-Carbondale Intercity Route.[17] The new Saluki Express era of JCMTD also saw them rebrand into JAX Mass Transit.[18] Another improvement would be made with the development of an app that allowed Saluki Express riders to see route information including schedules, stop times, and buses in real time.[19]