Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) is offering free designated shuttle service for the 2017 National Cherry Festival.

Shuttles will run from 10am to midnight July 1-8. The festival shuttles will make continuous half-hour loops from two marked park-and-ride locations at Northwestern Michigan College (Cherry Lot) and Thirlby Field to Traverse City Tourism's offices on Union Street directly across the street from the Open Space and Cherry Festival festivities.

“We continue to see a variety of people take advantage of this service, from visitors to local families, so they can avoid the hassles of finding a parking spot and dealing with traffic congestion downtown,” says BATA Executive Director Kelly Dunham. “Last year, we provided 11,780 rides via our Cherry Festival shuttle service, which was a 33 percent increase in ridership compared to 2015 - and we hope to have similar ridership this year.”

BATA is also offering free shuttle service to the festival’s “Orchard Tour and More!” at the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center in Leelanau County. Shuttles will make regular trips from 9:30am to 12:30pm July 3-7 departing from Traverse City Tourism.

For a map and schedule of Cherry Festival shuttles, click here.