North Arkansas Transportation Service Offers New and Improved City Route Service in Harrison

NATS is offering faster service than ever with some new changes to their city route services.

Jack Chisum with North Arkansas Transportation Service (NATS) joined KHOZ’s “Around the Table” program on Friday to talk about the services they offer, especially their new city route services.

“It’s the new and improved version of the city routes,” Chisum said.

Previously the city routes had several stops throughout town that were on a schedule. This meant that someone picked up on the south side of town might have to ride for a couple of hours to get to Wal-Mart. Chisum said under that system there weren’t very many riders, and a lot of money was spent on fuel.

The new version allows people to call NATS at 416-1080 and tell the bus driver where they are. The driver then goes to that location, picks the person up and takes them directly to where they need to go. In larger cities this kind of transit is known as a metro route.

The bus does not go to a person’s house. Instead, people can go to any of the old city route locations, with a couple of additions including Aldi and Nature’s Wonder, and call the bus from there. Chisum said the square is the most popular place to pick people up.

If you want a list of stops, you can obtain one from the bus driver. Some lists have also been left at Hudson’s Grocery and Cash Saver 870, but Chisum was unsure if they were still available at those locations. The list includes most doctors’ offices, all the major shopping areas, most apartment complexes, and nursing homes.

“You need to be at a place where the bus can pull in and drive through. We don’t want to back up and run over someone or a car or something,” Chisum said, “We’re trying to be safe.”

The cost to ride the bus is one dollar each time you board. That includes one dollar for the trip to your destination and another dollar for the ride back.

Chisum said the service is growing as they recently had their peak number of riders, 49 in a single week. Before this new and improved service began, he said it would take a month to see that many riders.  

NATS used to operate the trolleys in Harrison. Chisum said they sold the trolleys last year and replaced them with buses for better air conditioning and heat.

NATS also has some other developments going on that you may want to know more about. See the full interview with Jack Chisum from “Around the Table” here.