WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Advance Transit is planning to add Saturday routes and later weekday hours to its schedule.

The changes will take place in late fall 2023, said Trish Palao, the director of marketing and philanthropy at the nonprofit transportation organization, which has its hub in White River Junction.

Plans call for the blue route, which includes Enfield, Canaan, Hanover and Lebanon, with stops at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth College, will run until 9 p.m. The orange route (White River Junction, West Lebanon and Hanover), red route (Lebanon, West Lebanon and Route 12A plazas) and green route (West Lebanon, Hartford Village, Wilder, and Hanover) will run until 8:30 p.m.

Palao cautioned that not all of Advance Transit’s routes will run on Saturday.

“That’s where community feedback will help guide us through those decisions,” Palao said.

Advance Transit will host two community information sessions on Tuesday, during which the public can view potential route changes and provide feedback. The first will take place from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the Howe Library (13 South St., Hanover), and there will be a half-hour presentation at 12:30 p.m. The second session will take place from 4-6 p.m. at Tracy Hall (300 Main St., Norwich), and there will be a half-hour presentation at 5 p.m.

The next day, a PowerPoint presentation and posters will be posted to advancetransit.com/plan, where people will have the opportunity to submit feedback throughout the summer. A recording of the Hanover presentation will also be posted in the days following the event. Advance Transit staff will also be attending events like the Lebanon Farmers Market to get feedback.

The decision to expand services was based on a public survey that the organization conducted as part of its next five-year transit development plan.

“Weekday evening and weekend service are two things that we heard a lot about,” Palao said. “We take that feedback very seriously and have developed a plan to move forward with offering expanded service based on the feedback we received.”

For the Saturday service, Advance Transit leaders are eager to hear from riders about how if they want the routes to be similar to weekday routes or follow a different schedule, Palao said.

“It would be great to get as sense of what those hours could look like in the future,” she said.

The organization also is considering restructuring its yellow route (West Lebanon, Bugbee Senior Center and Upper Valley Aquatic Center) and increasing the frequency of its orange route.

“Our aim is to begin this by late fall, but there are other factors that we need to consider that may delay that,” Palao said. That includes hiring new drivers.

The organization has requested more federal transportation administration funds through Vermont and New Hampshire to help fund the expansion, Palao wrote in a followup email.

“Our institutional partners, the municipalities we serve, and community members who donate, can help us provide the local match funds we need,” Palao said.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.

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