The Beacon Free Loop Bus began rolling down Main Street in 2018, the result of a collaboration between BeaconArts, the City of Beacon, and Dutchess County. Former BeaconArts president Kelly Ellenwood helped spearhead the partnership with her artistic conviction that new branding would help the bus increase ridership and help people get around Beacon for free.

Now, the Beacon Free Loop Team is seeking ways to improve the bus to make it more accessible with this online survey, open until the end of April. The study is being conducted by the student-run PR firm out of Marist College, North Road Communications, who was an original partner in the origin of the Free Loop Bus.

A new Free Loop Bus Sign from when the bus first launched.

The big blue bus replaced the G-route from Dutchess County Public Transit, and with help from various funding sources, eliminated the bus fair to make it free. They wrapped the bus in a design based in pale blue, and altered the route so that it included more popular stops in Beacon for people to enter and exit.

Running in alignment with the Beacon train schedule, the new amenity was celebrated in Beacon. It has made changes since then, such as stopping at designated stops, instead of the “Wave and Ride” concept it launched with. According to the organizers, Beacon’s Main Street got too busy for impromptu stopping.