Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — July 30, 2025 — Arkansas State University could soon be seeing more JET buses and trollies making stops on campus.
The Finance and Administration Council Committee approved a resolution on Tuesday that would allow Jonesboro Economical Transportation (JET) to expand its services on the A-State campus. The resolution now moves to the full City Council for consideration.
The service would run Monday through Friday, with limited Saturday service. A-State students, faculty and staff, as well as New York Institute of Technology students, will not have to pay for rides, provided they show a valid school ID.
According to the resolution, there are nine JET stops and one will-call stop. The on-campus stops are listed below:
- Fowler Center
- University Police Department
- Bookout Plaza
- ROTC
- Marion Berry and the Health, Physical Education and Sport Sciences building
- Aggie/Azalea
- North Park Plaza
- The Yard and Marion Berry
- Embassy Suites
- Reng Student Union (will-call)
“As we are continuing to expand with the JET service, one of the things that we are doing is enhancing our service throughout the city, and that includes what we are doing on campus,” JET director of transit Lee Wells told JRN. “What this agreement is, is to where we are providing that service for them [A-State] to allow their students to have that better connectivity and ease of travel on the public transportation that the city offers throughout town.”
If approved, A-State will enter into a three-year contract and pay the City of Jonesboro $518,281.92 annually. The price represents the university’s local share of JET operating costs. A-State will own any bus stops it pays for, and as a result, will be responsible for cleaning and maintaining them.
Services under that contract would begin Aug. 16, if approved by the full City Council. The contract expires Aug. 15, 2028.
“This contract specifically is a three-year pilot program. This is effectively us testing how this program would work,” Wells said in Tuesday’s meeting. “We still will be tracking all of our ridership. We still will be maintaining all of our service in the city, as well as providing this extra level for campus.”
Wells said some of the JET routes would be reworked to encompass more areas of Jonesboro, since expanding to A-State allowed it access more of the city.
“By having those routes that are specifically dedicated on campus, then we will have those adjustments that can be made to some of the other routes in order to expand that into some of the surrounding area,” Wells told JRN. “We do hope to have some information on some of our route change plans going to public comment soon.”
The contract added that JET is planning to add a fifth route affecting A-State and expand its services beyond providing rides to football games. It plans to start adding rides to other sporting events, concerts, plays, art shows and more, as well as add stops at the College of Agriculture, Jonesboro Municipal Airport and the Judd Hill Farmer’s Market.
It also said there are plans to create an on-campus Transfer Center. JET currently has one Transfer Center, located at 713 S. Caraway Road. Wells told JRN that A-State would be responsible for maintaining the proposed on-campus center.
Also included in the resolution is the hiring of six new JET drivers: four full-time drivers and two full-time paratransit drivers “to fulfill the obligations of the proposed transit service agreement with Arkansas State University and meet increased transit demands.”
Wells told committee members that while the four full-time drivers are designated for the expanded service at A-State, the new paratransit drivers were to accommodate general increased demand.
The resolution said the three-year contract will provide necessary funding for the additional staffing, bus depreciation, fuel costs and more. It also said the city’s JET budget will be amended by $259,000 for revenue to be received and for respective operational expenses and funding for the new drivers if approved.
The next City Council meeting is Aug. 5 at 5:30 p.m., in Council Chambers of the Municipal Center, located at 300 S. Church St. Meetings are also livestreamed on the city’s Facebook page.