Jill Schramm/MDN Souris Basin Transportation driver Richard Barnett assists passenger Kyle Erickson disembark from a paratransit bus at Minot State University Jan. 14.

Souris Basin Transportation’s Sunday bus service will be coming back in February.

The Sunday service was suspended in December and this month because of a temporary shortage of drivers caused by a combination of vacations, family emergencies, illness or other medical issues, said Executive Director Darrell Francis. Those issues have resolved to allow Sunday service to resume next month.

“Sunday rides are very important for everybody,” said Dawn Olson of Minot, a regular user of the paratransit system. “When you don’t drive and you rely solely on public transportation, that’s pretty important.”

She has depended on people from her church congregation assisting her in getting to worship services recently, but because their vehicles can only transport fold-up chairs and not power wheelchairs, it limits her mobility, she said. Lack of Sunday service also impacts people who need rides to work or who only have Sundays to get shopping done, she said.

“Many families do things on Sunday, so it’s limiting family time as well,” Olson said.

Kyle Erickson, also a regular paratransit rider in Minot, said his ability to get to church has been affected but he is more concerned for individuals who need rides to get to work on Sundays.

“They rely on this service,” he said. “The only way to get to your job is unavailable now. I can imagine I’m in a tough spot – not that it’s only church – but with technology being the way it is, I can just stream it. But the people that I feel for are the people that work.”

Francis confirmed the paratransit Sunday service is used for work commutes by some riders. Along with restoring service in February, Souris Basin Transportation is working through the next cycle of grant funding to continue evening and weekend service in Minot for riders aged 60 and older or disabled once the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

Souris Basin Transportation’s on-demand, door-to-door service operates weekdays from 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturdays from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Sundays from 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. in Minot.

There also are transitions occurring behind the scenes now that the population of the Minot area has reached 50,000, bringing a new federal designation as a metropolitan area. Federal Transportation Administration regulations are requiring more data as a result, Francis said.

“We’re doing a lot of things to get this in place. We just spent $250,000 for a new scheduling/dispatch system, and that’s in the works now,” Francis said.

With the improved data the system can provide, Souris Basin Transportation will have better ability to track violations of its existing ride cancellation policy and will be fully enforcing penalties after April 1, Francis said.

Souris Basin Transportation loses the ability to provide about 900 rides a month due to scheduled riders failing to promptly cancel so that other riders can be given those slots, he said.

The policy states scheduled riders who experience a change in plans must cancel at least two hours before pickup unless the reason is unavoidable, such as a family emergency, mobility aid failure, adverse weather or a staff error. Riders receive a warning letter for a first no show.

A second occurrence within 30 days results in a one week suspension from use of the service. A third occurrence carries a two week suspension and a fourth occurrence a three week suspension.