New Bus Routes Expand Coverage

Route and coverage changes went in effect Monday for several routes.

In addition, two new park-and-ride lots on Jones Ferry Road and Friday Center Drive off N.C. 54 will soon open.

Debby Freed, UNC transportation demand management coordinator, said the Jones Ferry lot is scheduled to open in late September or early October, while the Friday Center lot is scheduled to open in October.

Chapel Hill Transit Director Mary Lou Kuschatka said the JFX and FCX routes will serve the two new lots, which will be free to park in during the day.

Kuschatka said that since the transit system became fare-free in January, officials have been forced to modify schedules to accommodate the spike in ridership.

"We made a lot of timetable adjustments," she said. "We are a victim of our own success."

She said ridership was 56 percent higher in May 2002 than May 2001 and was 73 percent higher in July 2002 than July 2001.

She said the July spike in bus ridership shows the service is not ignored when students leave town for the summer.

"It is not only students taking advantage of the fare-free ridership, but it's the whole community," she said.

Freed said UNC's transportation department has been able to work smoothly with town transit to coordinate the service expansion.

"I think we've been able to communicate with Chapel Hill Transit about the needs of students and the needs of employees," she said.

According to the town's transit Web site, the A route will now provide additional rush hour service on Airport Road and Hillsborough Street.

The C route through Carrboro split into two routes, the CW and CM, with buses running in both directions.

The D route, which previously ran along the U.S. 15-501 Service Road, now serves Old Durham-Chapel Hill Road.

The G route now serves UNC Hospitals all day, and the J route has expanded to cover Highland Hills all day. The T route now serves Westminster Circle.

The nighttime C/D route now functions as two separate routes, midday service to the P lot has been cut back, and all Saturday routes and times have changed.

Freed said that while more print schedules will not be available until later in the week, she encourages patrons to access the adjusted routes and timetables online at the transit Web site.

Leigh Morton, a freshman from Asheville, said she has had some difficulty deciphering the bus schedules but that overall, she has been pleased with the transit service.

"It's just much easier to ride the bus."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.