How to ride the Pueblo Bus system

Because a Pueblo bus stop is close to where I live, and because I cannot drive in Colorado because of my past seizures caused by doctor's Prozac and Effexor pills, I ride the  Pueblo buses often.  Pueblo's bus system's official site is at https://www.pueblo.us/492/Bus-Schedules

That website has PDFs of each bus route, however it does not show stores and other places and landmarks you might want to go to on the Pueblo bus routes. Can you take the Pueblo bus system to (where you want to go) is tough question to get an answer to. Sometimes, if you ask a bus driver or the staff at the bus terminal they know the answer, but not always. The bus drivers have always been polite. Some bus stops are 200 feet from each other, some are miles apart. In Pueblo, 99% of riders are polite, about 1% are a bit rude. Every kind of person rides buses from 4 to 100, fat, skinny, all races, including minorities like me (older white males). The Pueblo bus signs are not very noticeable, and there is no consistency, sometimes bus signs are flat against walls, some are on poles, some come with a covered park bench some with no bench, some stops at stores and libraries, other stop in the middle of pure residential areas.

Every Pueblo bus travels in a loop, and docks at the common bus terminal where you can catch another bus going to where you want to go. (The buses often arrive at about the same time at the terminal.) The routes are not always orthogonal (they sometimes have different routes for return routes, and some bus routes have the same stops). For this reason, you do not have to exit the bus when it docks at the station, you can ride it until it goes where you want. Limited transfers are free in case you need to take several buses to reach your destination. It costs $1.25 to ride the bus, the full fares are at:

https://www.pueblo.us/490/Bus-Fares

I have a monthly pass, which saves money and adds convenience. The best way to learn where the buses go, relative to landmarks such as parks, stores, restaurants, etc; is to spend a day riding every Pueblo bus (takes about 4-6 hours) with a pen and paper, and optionally a GPS, to note which bus goes where and they stop at. It is a good idea to list any possible places you may want to go and save it as a text file you can search later when you need it. The Pueblo buses are comfortable and modern, and kneel for those in wheel chairs.

The drawbacks of the Pueblo buses is often they run once an hour, so if you have to transfer at the bus terminal it can take 2 hours to reach a destination. The bus seats are OK, a bit cramped and hard. I think all buses should run every 10 minutes, if they did that, everyone would ride them. Also, Pueblo buses do not run at nights (the last bus runs around 5:30 to 6 PM, making it useless for those who work late), weekends, or holidays, limiting their usefulness. If you miss the last bus, sometimes there are overlapping routes, so you might catch another bus that takes you close to your desired stop. As an example, I missed the last Highland bus (7) so I took the Bessemer bus (2) which took me within a mile of my house and I just walked on a nice day to get some exercise. Lastly, because the bus routes sometimes overlap, be careful not to get on the wrong bus. For example, Pueblo bus 7 and 8 both go to the courthouse, where I often go in my judgment business; and I was so glad to see the bus come that I did not pay attention to which bus number it was - so I just rode the wrong bus all the way back back to the bus terminal. (The Pueblo bus terminal also includes a Greyhound bus terminal in the same building.)

The bus computers are not perfect. Once, I got on my bus home, and the bus computer said my monthly bus pass was invalid. The fix was to take the next bus home (that second bus's computer said my card was OK, ah technology).

Route 1, stops at DVR and Paisanos restaurant.

Route 2, stops at the Rawlings Library

Route 4, the The Berkeley/Beluah route stops at places including: La Quinta Hotel, V.A., Windgate Hotel, KMart, Kohl's, Mineral Palace Towers, Comfort Inn.

There is no bus Route 5.

Route 6, the The Pueblo Mall route stops at places including: Walmart Dillon, The Pueblo Mall, Planet Fitness, Target, (1 block from) Goodwill, Ramada, Inn, IHop, Home Depot, King Soopers grocery, Holiday Inn, Motel 6, Clarion Hotel, Sam's Club, the Post Office, Kohls, American Pawn and Jewelry, and the Clairion Windgate hotel.

Route 7, the Highland Park route stops at places including: Walgreens, (1 block from) Pueblo Mac and PC Repair, Pueblo Community College (Marilyn Thomas), Cricket Wireless, Loaf N' Jug, (1 block from) the Pueblo state fair,  (1 block from) Walmart, (1 block from) Dollar Tree store, (1 block from) Pizza Ranch, (1 block from) Pueblo Athletic Club, (1 block from) Doctor Gary B. Grey, DDS, (1 block from) Patriot Car Wash, Sonic fast food, Seth High School, Albertsons, The Sangre De Cristo apartments,  Safeway, Wells Fargo, and half a mile from the Pueblo DMV office (which is silly because if you do not have a drivers license, the bus should take you right to the DMV.

Route 9, the University route stops at places including: Prayer Assembly, East High School, Cricket Wireless, Case De Saite's, Family Dollar, Asian market, and Harmony Ridge Apartments.

Route 10, the Belmont route stops at places including: the Oakshire apartments, Minnequa Works credit union, Family Dollar, Sav-A-Lot (a grocery store), Legacy bank, Big Lots, Pueblo Social Services, DVR, Health Solutions, (close to) Comcast, the Post office, Colorado State University campus, Kirby Vacuum, Smoker Friendly, Loaf N Jug, Cricket wireless, Dollar general, the Department of Transportation, PS I Love You flowers, Paisanos restaurant, Firestone Tires, Board of Water Works, Gear Up Auto, ENT, Rent-A-center, Barkman Library, an Asian Market, Kuan's Kitchen (Chinese restaurant), Christian Foundation Center, Trinity Life Gardens, East High school, the Skyview Apartments, Belmont Square, and Eaton High School.

Route 12, the Lake route stops at places including - Mak's restaurant, Walmart grocery, medical dispensary, Lowes, Rawlings library, Public Defender's office, Convention Center, Hampton Suites, Main Street Parking Garage, Saint Mary Corbin Hospital, Pueblo Diversified Industries, Loaf N Jug, Central High School, Pueblo Memorial Hall, and the Kozy Motel.

----

Mark Shapiro, judgment expert, judgment broker, judgment writer, and a smile chaser.  Visit: http://www.JudgmentBuy.com