Riders took their first trips on a new express transit route from Santa Maria to downtown San Luis Obispo Monday, a service aimed an easing commuter congestion on Highway 101.

The service from Santa Maria Regional Transit , designated as Route 210, will make eight daily trips during weekday mornings and afternoons with the first two weeks of service free to entice new riders.

"We know that our communities are quite economically intertwined, and we see it every day in our highway system; the volume of people driving to SLO County for work, education or entertainment," Transit Services Manager Gamaliel Anguiano told the council Tuesday, before the new route was approved.

"This new express route will now help a lot of our commuters who live here but work there, or vice versa, and this is

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