Clarksville Transit System’s “Spooky Special” set to roll for Halloween

Mayor Kim McMillan greets passengers, CTS staff during fun ride

Clarksville, TN – For Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan, the Spooky Special is a happy place.

Riding the custom-decorated bus on the Hilldale route Saturday, she sang “The Wheels on the Bus” with a toddler, cheerfully helped passengers in wheel chairs navigate the bus aisle, and greeted each Clarksville Transit System rider and employee with a big smile – all while sporting a really classy pirate costume.

“Riding the Spooky Special is a great way to interact with residents who use Clarksville Transit System buses,” Mayor McMillan said. “Many of the people I talked to said they ride nearly every day to get to work, shop or get to their classes at Nashville State or APSU. Overall, riders told me they appreciate the service and gave it very positive reviews.”

“CTS provided nearly one million rides to its customers last year, and the number continues to grow,” she said. “This service is bigger and better than ever, and that’s important because it’s the primary transportation for many of our residents.”

The Spooky Special, or Spooky Bus as some call it, is a CTS Halloween tradition that started 27 years ago to help residents get acquainted with the transportation service and to thank consistent passengers.

Clarksville Academy art students have painted the bus with special Halloween oriented designs for the past 24 years.

“These are our all-star art students, and they enjoy the honor of getting to decorate the Spooky Bus,” said Robert Neitzke, art instructor at the school. “We work from sketches that the students present, and we use water-soluble Tempra paint – so we really appreciate the good weather this year. If it rains, the paint comes off, and the trips are cancelled.”

Rides on the Spooky Special are free, and it runs on a variety of routes for a few days around Halloween. All of the trips originate from the Transit Center at 200 Legion Street.

The Spooky Special will be at Clarksville Academy from 7:00am-9:40am Monday, October 31st and then continues for its Halloween schedule with service to these routes:

• 111 Fort Campbell, 10:00am to noon.
• 311 Cunningham Loop, noon to 1:00pm.
• 411 Peachers Mill Road, 1:00pm-2:00pm.
• 512 Hilldale, 2:00pm-4:00pm.
• 611 Madison Street, 4:00pm-5:00pm.
• 813 Hospital/101 Express, 5:00pm-7:00pm.
• 711 Governors Square Mall, 7:00pm-9:00pm.