Beaumont holds public workshop on 10‑year transit plan; residents urge restored routes, safer stops

Beaumont city staff and consultants held a bilingual public workshop to seek community feedback on a 10‑year transit plan, presenting ridership trends, a bus‑stop inventory and a prioritization framework while residents urged restored routes, safer stops and expanded hours.

Consultant Ronk Gilcon of TMD framed the study as a decade‑long effort to make "Beaumont Transit" more reliable, better connected and prepared for future growth. He said the team will analyze routes, schedules and stops and use public surveys and events to develop recommendations. "Nuestro objetivo es sencillo: hacer que Beaumont Transit sea más confiable, mejor conectado, y preparado para el futuro," Gilcon said during the presentation.

Why it matters: presenters reported that ridership patterns remain reshaped since 2020–21, with weekday peaks tied to school travel. The consultants said their household survey and outreach show heavy dependence on transit for some riders: 58% of passengers were students, 56% were under 18, and roughly 59% of riders said they could not make specific trips without Beaumont transit. The team said 49% of passengers reported household incomes below $33,000, underscoring equity concerns.

Public input: Residents who spoke during the virtual meeting described routine reliance on the system for school and essential trips and urged operational and stop‑level changes. A participant identified as Michael said he used Routes 2, 3 and 4 before the pandemic and urged reconsidering routes removed or changed during COVID because some riders now face long walks or circuitous trips to basic destinations. Lulú, a participant who described using transit for her children's school commutes, listed safety for children, destination coverage and accessibility as her top three priorities.

Stop conditions and priorities: The consultants reported a system inventory of 129 stops; they said 126 stops have benches and 23 have shelters, but that about 96 stops (approximately 70%) are inaccessible due to narrow boarding areas, lack of paved sidewalks or very steep boarding approaches. Consultants asked attendees to prioritize improvements across six factors — frequency of use, comfort/shelter, accessibility, safety/lighting, equity and important destinations — because resources are limited.

Operations and hours: Presenters noted most routes operate on roughly hourly headways with limited evening service and most routes ending around 6 p.m. They described the Community Link service as providing several daily trips connecting Walmart, the casino and San Bernardino. Multiple participants requested earlier, later and Sunday service; presenters said staffing, demand and operational constraints shaped past reductions and that the study would examine options for restoring service.

Next steps: The project team will compile survey responses and meeting input, conduct an operational/market assessment and develop preliminary recommendations for public review in summer 2026. The team plans to refine proposals after public feedback and present a final plan to the City Council for adoption at the end of the process.

Attribution note: Meeting audio and the transcript consolidate multiple speakers under a single talk label; attributions in this report are drawn only from explicit self‑identifications and statements in the transcript (for example, Ronk Gilcon identified himself as manager with TMD and introduced data; Daniel Peña identified himself as senior planner). Where the transcript did not provide a full name, this article uses the participant labels shown in the record (for example, "Lulú" and "Michael").

The workshop closed with contact information and a project website for additional comments; the team encouraged continued engagement as it develops draft recommendations for public review.