Reserving and Paying for Rides in Advance

All transportation services must be scheduled in advance, no later than noon the prior business day before desired travel (for example, a ride for Monday would need scheduled by noon the prior Friday). Same-day trip requests may be possible, but are contingent upon  availability and may incur additional fees. A minimum 72-hour advanced reservation is recommended for all services.

Rides must be paid for in advance. The amount of each fare is based on the travel distance. For more information, please refer to the fare information page, as guidance, for private pay services. All current boarding fares are at the discretion of the provider and may not be reflected on this site.

Intercity Bus Services

Open Plains Transit operates intercity bus service along four routes as depicted in the adjacent map, including the Blue Routes, Bronze Routes, Green Routes, and Orange Routes. The Orange and the Bronze routes are available Monday through Friday, while the Blue and the Green routes are available Monday through Saturday. All of these routes follow pre-planned, regular schedules each day. To see schedules for the different routes, you can select a route under the Services menu above or simply click on the corresponding button below.

As noted above, to use Open Plains Transit intercity bus services, all transportation services must be scheduled in advance, by noon on the prior business day before desired travel (for example, a ride for Monday should be scheduled by noon the prior Friday). A minimum 72-hour advanced reservation is recommended for all services. Payment for boarding fares is required at the time of reservation. Please ensure to arrive at your designated departure location 10-15 minutes early as buses will depart promptly as scheduled. Details for scheduling a ride on one of the intercity bus routes are as follows:

Phone: 308-761-8747

Reservations: M-F, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. mountain

Operations: M-S, as per schedules

Open Plains Transit offers demand-response services within their intercity bus service communities, to provided access to their locally designated bus stop locations (filling first mile, last mile gaps in service). Please ask about this service at the time of reservation. 

Demand-Response Transit Services

Demand-response services are available in the following Nebraska counties:

• Box Butte
• Cherry
• Sheridan

Services operate Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Same-day trip requests may be possible, but are contingent upon  availability and may incur additional fees. A minimum 72-hour advanced reservation is recommended for all services. Details for scheduling demand-response rides are as follows:

Nebraska Panhandle: 308-761-8747

Cherry County, NE: 402-389-2975

Reservations: M-F, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. mountain

Operations: M-F, 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. mountain & central

Holidays with No Service

Open Plains Transit observes the holidays listed below. Services are unavailable on these holidays, regardless of the day of the week on which they fall.

New Years Day

Memorial Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Day