Park and Ride system may encounter changes

A public meeting will be held Tuesday night at the Bloomington Transit office to discuss optional changes for the Bryan Park "Park and Ride" bus system. After hearing public opinion on possible changes, the policy board will meet to make a decision.\nThree possible service changes are being considered at this point. \n"In lieu of the Park and Ride service at Bryan Park, they are considering replacing it with an express bus service," Bloomington Transit General Manager Lewis May said.\nThe first two options involve the new express bus. In the first option, the bus would cover the corners of Henderson Street, Hillside Drive and Walnut Street. It would start at Henderson and Winslow Road and pass apartment complexes, where many of the students who use the Park and Ride live, to Hillside and Walnut to Third Street. The bus would stop on Third Street on the south side of campus.\nThe second express bus option would start at the corner of Henderson Street and Winslow, go north to Atwater Avenue and turn east. It then would return to Third.\n"Instead of using the Park and Ride, they'd just catch the bus from their apartment to campus," May said.\nThe third potential change would be relocation of the Park and Ride. Instead of operating from Bryan Park, the bus would pick up at Winslow Sports Park. The park has a large parking lot, but the bus would only be able to operate from that location from the second week in September until spring break. The park is too busy in the weeks after break to accommodate student parking.\nCitizens who live in the neighborhood around Bryan Park began voicing concern about the noise and emissions of the buses. Some are also worried about the narrowness of the streets the buses use and have asked that the service be eliminated.\nThe Park and Ride bus service has been operating since 1992 and carries about 550 persons a day. Not all students are happy with the changes being considered.\n"All the options sound like short-term solutions," sophomore Chad Redden said. "They should think about putting more money into it, and they need to have a meeting when the students are back. A significant portion of the student population isn't in town right now." \nSome members of the board have expressed concern about students being unable to attend the meeting, May said. He said the meeting was necessary to balance the concern of the neighborhood and the needs of the riders. \nIU alumnus Trent Gaines said he still uses the Park and Ride frequently. He said that concerns with parking may make him reconsider living in Bloomington.\n"I live on the northwest side of town, which is almost out of town. I have used the Park and Ride quite a bit instead of the stadium because it never gets closed off due to games," Gaines said. "I am currently looking at going back to school, but with transportation being such an issue in Bloomington, I am definitely considering other schools."\nChanges could go into effect as early as Aug. 30, which marks the beginning of IU's fall semester.\nThe Bloomington Transit offices are located at 130 W. Grimes Lane. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. and anyone with interest is welcome to attend.\n-- Contact staff writer Amanda Elliott at arelliot@indiana.edu.