Winter brings changes to bus routes

Starting Monday, Nov. 6, an extra bus will be added to campus Route 80, reducing the time between buses from seven to six minutes for the winter months. The extra bus will help to lessen the chances that riders will be passed at their stops in cold and snowy weather because their buses are already full.

Riders are reminded that the buses will be on a recess schedule — with 15 minutes between buses — during winter break, from Dec. 26–Jan. 21.

Also on Nov. 6, the new Route 85, known as the South Park Circulator, will begin running at 10-minute intervals, with the first bus leaving Memorial Union at 7:10 a.m. and the last bus departing at 6 p.m.

Rob Kennedy, TDM coordinator for Transportation Services, says the change was made to acknowledge the actual time it takes for the buses to travel their routes. When Route 85 began at the start of the semester, the buses were scheduled to be eight minutes apart, but often ended up being late.

“The two-minute change in the route should ensure that the long waits that people have complained about — sometimes as much as 20 minutes — do not occur,” says Kennedy.

During the winter break, the Route 85 buses will be 20 minutes apart, starting at 7 a.m. at Memorial Union. The last bus will leave the Union at 6 p.m.

Printable schedules for the bus routes are available at http://ww.mymetrobus.com.