It’s still unclear to me whether the 11 deserves to exist or not. Still, just for kicks, I decided to see what would happen if it didn’t. Today we’re going to look at a GATRA Saturday schedule where the 12 and 24 completely replace the 11 along the Route 1 corridor. See the full schedule here.
This is a schedule for the 12 and the 24 if they were both to run on Saturdays. They’re pretty similar to how the routes are run now, except for the fact that the 24 serves Mayfaire Plaza in both directions with this scheme. Additionally, the Plaza has a timed transfer between the 12 and the 24 so that people can still go from Pawtucket to Emerald Square and vice versa (replicating the lost service on the 11). The 12 and the 24 would use one bus each.
So what about the 10? Normally that route would be interlined with the 11 on Saturdays. Well, don’t worry, for the 16‘s schedule lines up perfectly with trips on the 10! Thus, the 10 and the 16 would be interlined, using two buses total. This leaves two remaining routes, the 14 and 15, which can get one bus each (or they could possibly share one vehicle if the 14 gave up a bit of service for a few runs on the quick, infrequent 15 – it could work).
I’m not entirely sure specifically how the GATRA interlines and runs its Saturday routes, so this is all just theoretical. I have no idea if it would actually create savings for the authority (although the coordinated 12 and 24 technically provide three routes for the price of two, so that’s good), but it’s definitely food for thought. Feel free to give your opinions in the comments!