Contact: Zack Plair

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A new route for the Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit system aims to connect the local public with global destinations.

S.M.A.R.T. opened its new route to the Golden Triangle Regional Airport in Lowndes County with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday [Jan. 4] in the airport terminal. Funded through a partnership between Mississippi State University, the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the City of Starkville, the new route offers free shuttle rides to the regional airport from The Mill at MSU Conference Center, located on Russell Street.

“From a community standpoint, it will be of great convenience,” said Jeremiah Dumas, MSU director for parking, transit and sustainability. “From the student side, the biggest demographic served will be international students, many of whom don’t have cars and depend on the airport to get back and forth from home.”

GTR contracts with Delta Airlines, offering flights to and from Delta’s international hub in Atlanta. By connecting with S.M.A.R.T., GTR Director Mike Hainsey said the airport can better serve its best client.

“We’re very excited about this,” he said. “Our No. 1 client is Mississippi State University through its faculty, staff and students. This just makes it easier to get to the airport, and for small airports like ours, it’s all about convenience.”

Dumas said a shuttle would travel to the airport four times daily, arriving an hour before scheduled departure times and staying at the airport and remaining for roughly 25 minutes after passengers disembark from landed planes. For more information on the airport shuttle’s schedule, visit www.smart.msstate.edu.

The airport shuttle marks the S.M.A.R.T. system’s 10th route since MDOT first awarded the grant establishing the system in 2012. Dumas said S.M.A.R.T. would add two buses to accommodate the airport route, bringing the entire fleet serving Starkville and MSU’s campus to 29.

S.M.A.R.T. carried its millionth rider in July 2015, Dumas said, and the Mississippi Public Transit Association recently named S.M.A.R.T. the state’s Transportation System of the Year.

“We are truly blessed to have such a great airport here,” MSU President Mark E. Keenum said before Monday’s ribbon-cutting. “And we’re getting a lot of ridership for this free [S.M.A.R.T.] service. This just shows that through working together with great partners, you can accomplish great things.”

Mike Tagert, transportation commissioner for northern Mississippi who also spoke at Monday’s ribbon-cutting, said the “last mile” is often the most important component to a successful transportation system. He added that the thriving S.M.A.R.T. system and airport serve as economic growth indicators for the Golden Triangle region.

For more information on GTR, visit www.gtra.com.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.