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The Wave Transit System

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The Wave Transit System is the operator of public transportation in Mobile, Alabama, operated by the City of Mobile. Eleven local routes service the city and suburban regions, while the modal trolley provides downtown shuttle service. Crossbay service via the Baylinc route service Baldwin County, Alabama. The cities of Spanish Fort, Daphne, Fairhope, and Point Clear have bus access to Downtown Mobile via US 98 and US 90.

01History

Mobile's public transportation was started in 1860 as the Mobile and Spring Hill Railway, a mule-drawn tram system. In 1892, the line was acquired by J. Howard Wilson and electrified. In 1893 Mobile Light & Railway was formed by the consolidation of the Mobile Electric Railway and the Mobile Electric Light & Power. In 1897, Mobile and Spring Hill Railway was combined into Mobile Light & Railway to form the Mobile Light & Railroad

Another system was started in 1887 under similar ownership as the Mobile and Spring Hill under the name Mobile Street Railway. It was sold in foreclosure in 1892 and was renamed the Mobile Street Railroad. By 1903, the Mobile Street Railroad was combined into Mobile Light & Railroad. After the death of J. Howard Wilson in 1939, Mobile Light & Railroad was acquired by National City Lines and renamed Mobile City Lines. Mobile City Lines converted the system to buses. In 1971, the bus lines were taken over by the Mobile Transit Authority. Mobile Transit Authority collapsed in 1995 and the operations were taken over by the City of Mobile under the name Metro Transit. In 2005, Metro Transit was renamed The Wave.

02Route list

NumberNameFrequencyOperationLinkNotes
Week
days
Satur
days
1 Airport60 min6:00
18:45
7:00
18:50
link
4 Spring Hill60 min5:00
18:55
6:30
18:30
linkSaturday service only between
Downtown and Zeigler/University
5 Highway 4560 min5:25
18:55
6:25
18:55
link
7 Dauphin Street60 min5:25
20:50
6:25
20:50
link
9 Broad
/Southside
/Bel Air Mall
60 min5:10
21:55
6:10
21:55
link
10 Crosstown60 min5:05
21:55
6:05
21:55
link
11 Dauphin Island Parkway60 min5:20
18:40
6:30
18:25
linkSaturday service only between
Downtown and Fulbrook Shopping Center
12 Highway 90
/Tillman's Corner
60 min6:00
18:55
7:00
19:55
link
15 Toulminville60 min5:30
18:40
6:30
18:40
link
16 Plateau
/Prichard
25 min5:30
18:25
6:30
18:25
linkThis route serves as a transit hub connection between Prichard, Al and Downtown Mobile, Al.
18 Cottage Hill
/USA
60 min5:35
18:55
7:00
18:55
linkSaturday service only between
Bel Air Mall and Cottage Hill Shopping Center
19 Schillinger
/Airport Boulevard
60 min5:30
19:30
6:30
18:30
linkFlex service,
with scheduled transfers to route 1
at Providence Hospital
Moda
(downtown shuttle)
20 min7:00
14:00
-linkService extended during special events

03Fixed route ridership

The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response services.

250,000 500,000 750,000 1,000,000 1,250,000 1,500,000 2005 2008 2011 2014 2017 2020 2023
Watch videos about The Wave Transit SystemExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article The Wave Transit System, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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