BANGOR – Proposed route and fare changes to the city’s public bus system were announced at two public meetings Wednesday following the completion of a route redesign study.

Conducted by Tom Crikelair Associates of Bar Harbor, the study of the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System, known as BACTS, recommended improvements to the Mount Hope Avenue, Center Street, and Hampden routes, as well as the addition of a new route to serve area shopping malls.

The improvements, scheduled for this October, were developed in response to concerns expressed at a public meeting last August, plan designer Tom Crikelair said.

“The recommendations we made to the city were influenced in large part by the suggestions [residents] made,” he said.

A 10 percent increase in bus use from last year necessitated a revision of the current system, said Don Cooper, senior transportation planner for BACTS.

“More and more of the routes were having a hard time staying on schedule,” he said. “We broke half a million rides annually this year.”

A new “Mall Hopper” route, which will utilize $36,000 of the city’s $43,000 contribution to the project, will provide increased access to the Airport, Broadway and Bangor Malls, Crikelair said.

A division of the Mount Hope Avenue route also will provide more efficient service to the Bangor Mall area, he said. One route will continue to travel out Mount Hope Avenue to Wal-Mart, Shaw’s, K-Mart and the Bangor Mall, travelling the same path on its return to Pickering Square. The second route will serve the same area by way of Stillwater Avenue, Crikelair said.

Rider complaints about busses being continually late along the Center Street route led to his suggestion to shorten it and add a new route linking the Airport Mall, the Broadway Shopping Center, and the Bangor Mall, Crikelair said.

Continuous hourly service to Hampden will also be available, and an additional bus has been added to the Brewer route, Crikelair said.

The University of Maine has contributed an additional $6,000 to BACTS to expand its free service to university students who live outside the Orono area, he said.

Proposed changes to the current fare system must be voted on at a public meeting in August. The changes include a 10-cent increase in the cash fare to 85 cents, a $4 increase for a monthly pass to $34, elimination of transfer fees, and availability of a system-wide ticket, according to bus superintendent Joe McNeil.

“We tried to do it in a way that least hurt the people that need the service most,” he said.

McNeil said both riders and city councilors have reacted positively to the suggested improvements.

“This study seems to have a lot of not only public support, but political support,” he said.

Deborah Ellis of Bangor said she looks forward to the changes, as she relies on the bus to get to her job at the Bangor Mall Wendy’s restaurant.

“The Mount Hope route has been my lifesaver,” she said. “I have to take the bus. I don’t have a choice. I think the changes will mean access for a lot more people.”

The City Council has yet to approve modifications including evening and weekend service, a new route serving Odlin Road and Outer Hammond Street, and free shuttle service to the Bangor Public library, post office and waterfront.