PEORIA — South Peoria and East Bluff residents will be able to ride a special bus on alternating weekdays to get to the grocery store, starting Monday.

The service, operated by Dream Center Peoria and funded by charitable donations, was announced earlier this week, and details about it were rolled out Friday at a City Hall news conference.

The bus — a large, blue vehicle — will operate its East Bluff route Monday, picking up shoppers at four stops before stopping at Kroger, 801 W. Lake Ave., and then Aldi, 3420 N. University St. Then on Tuesday it will operate a South Peoria route with four pick-up spots and stops at Kroger, 3311 N. Sterling Ave. and the Aldi on University.

The route will alternate each weekday, meaning that one week the East Bluff will have service three days and South Peoria for two, then the following week the days will be reversed.

The system is open to tweaking, officials said.

"This is something we didn't want to stall," 3rd District City Councilman Tim Riggenbach said. "We wanted to get this up and running as fast as possible."

But that means they're seeking suggestions from users on how to best alter routes and when there might be more demand, among other things, with surveys available at each of the pick-up locations. Routes and pick-up points so far have come through community suggestions, 1st District City Councilwoman Denise Moore said.

The Dream Center will also track ridership, director Andy King said, and may run smaller buses on days with lower demand.

CityLink general manager Doug Roelfs said the agency is also watching the implementation and will consider what role it can play in a longer-term solution incorporating its existing routes.

"We all understand this is not the permanent solution," Moore said, but she stressed that finding something to help people in the short term was necessary.

The shuttle operates from Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., making stops approximately once an hour. Funding is already available to keep it running for eight weeks at a cost of about $700 per week. Donations are being accepted to keep it running longer.

The full schedule can be found at https://www.dreamcenterpeoria.org/grocery-shuttle/ and donations can also be made there.