Transfort has proposed several route changes to take effect in January, and may no longer service the University Center for the Arts.
The most notable proposed change is to route 19, which services the CSU transit center, the UCA and the south transit center. The newly proposed route would not service the UCA, South College Avenue or West Prospect Road. Instead the route would travel directly on South Shields Street to Transfort’s south transit center.
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“This will better serve the Fort Collins community,” said Timothy Wilder, Transfort service development manager.
Sam Block, deputy director of environmental affairs for the Associated Students of CSU, brought the issue to ASCSU Senate Oct. 1.
“According to Transfort, very few students have been riding to the UCA,” Block said.
Sophomore Mary Holmes is uncomfortable with the proposal.
“Honestly the UCA is inconvenient to get to for most students, but the buses help,” Holmes said. “I’m not going to ride my bike all the way to the UCA in the winter.”
Transfort has already tested the new route, and Wilder said it makes the ride shorter and easier for people commuting to and from the south transit center.
Another proposed change is to route 33. According to Wilder, the route would no longer travel down Plum Street and will instead service Elizabeth Street all the way to South Shields Street.
Holmes questioned the decision to change this route due to the high ridership from the newly constructed District apartments.
“Having multiple bus routes on Plum really helps, especially when the weather gets colder and the buses get more crowded,” Holmes said.
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According to Wilder, Transfort has already responded to the increase in ridership on Plum Street.
“We are going to have more of a rover type bus to accommodate that area,” Wilder said.
This bus will travel the route picking up riders who cannot fit onto the designated 31 buses. In addition, Wilder said the route 31 buses have already began to come every ten minutes to help ease the crowded buses.
The proposed changes will take effect in early January to coincide with the start of CSU’s spring semester.
Collegian Reporter Jonathan Matheny can be reached online at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @jonathanmathen2.
