2 Red or 50 Green through historic Urbana
This is probably the easiest of the MTD's more scenic bus rides to take because it is available at all times except Sunday evenings and has transit connections at both ends. However, like most community bus routes, it runs at a much lower frequency than campus routes (30 minutes). During weekday daytimes, board the 2C Red at Lincoln Square or the 2U Red on campus. Or, during weekends and weekday evenings, board the 50W Green at Orchard Downs or 50E Green on campus or at Lincoln Square.
This is by far the longest and twistiest bus route connecting campus and Urbana, but also the most scenic. You will find yourself meandering through historic Urbana, complete with cobblestone streets, old fashioned globe lamps, and upscale houses. Try to ride this route during the blue hour (just after sunset) to feel the tranquility of this historic neighborhood. This area is so placid and upscale you'll be less surprised to find a Rolls Royce than a full sized city bus here. But a city bus is exactly what you are riding on.
1/100 Yellow to Savoy Walmart
Available every day of the week (but also only at 30-minute frequencies), riding the 1/100S Yellow to the Savoy Walmart will take you across urban, suburban and rural landscapes within half an hour. Board a southbound Yellow (not YellowHopper) bus and simply stay on all the way to the southern terminal, the Walmart in Savoy. Although the entire ride is fun, winding through Research Park, residential neighborhoods and business complexes along the way, the southernmost part of the route, from Curtis Road to Savoy, is by far the most scenic.
Here, the bus along a two-lane country road between barns and cornfields at 40 mph. To fully appreciate this surreal yet beautiful scene, ride this route right before sunset when the cornfields shimmer in the evening sun. It really is amazing how close we are to the "wild." Riding a full-sized city bus through the Midwestern countryside sounds strange and feels stranger, but it's somehow strangely relaxing.
Northeast End of 10 Gold
Although the Red through historic Urbana and the Yellow to the Savoy Walmart are both relatively easy to catch, some other scenic MTD routes are much harder to ride. One of these is the full 10 Gold route, which runs to the northeast corner of the MTD service area during weekday rush hours only. Board a 10E Gold (not GoldHopper) bus on campus or at Lincoln Square during the morning or mid-afternoon and make sure the destination sign reads Brownfield and Columbia. After Lincoln Square, you will enter sparsely populated countryside, and then a dense, lush forest, followed by classic Midwestern cornfields. All this takes place on narrow, winding country roads, making it one of the MTD's most rustic rides. This is the perfect ride if you want to appreciate the beauty of nature but are too lazy to hike or even drive.
11/110 Ruby
Now we arrive at probably the most unique bus route in the entire CUMTD system, the 11/110 Ruby, which serves far northeast Urbana. Like the Yellow and Red, this route runs all day, but timing is critical here since the Ruby runs only once every 40 minutes during weekdays and once every hour during weekends. Departing from Lincoln Square, the Ruby heads northbound into residential Urbana, traversing narrow and sometimes unpaved roads in the process. From there it only gets weirder: you will roll along a service road between enormous auto dealerships and a busy Interstate highway, and then cornfields and barns only a few minutes later.
Next, you will circle through some very new suburban developments. Here, single-family homes can be on one side of the road and cornfields on the other, and streets are built for cars only (not buses or even pedestrians). Then, the entire process repeats before you arrive back in Lincoln Square. There is simply nothing like the Ruby. It runs through every landscape possible except for where buses are expected.
You probably think of the CUMTD as simply the buses that shuttle you around campus. But it does much more than that. Its routes reach every corner of Chambana, serving urban, suburban and rural landscapes. Riding the CUMTD to the far corners of Chambana is the perfect way to escape campus and leave behind stress and education for a few hours, and enjoy the feeling of going places, and the simple beauty of nature. And all that stress relief is 100% free.
