Local bus move denied

Students who use the Park and Ride system can now eliminate the parking step from their daily routine.\nIn a meeting Tuesday, the Bloomington Parks Board voted unanimously not to transfer the Park and Ride parking lot from Bryan Park to the Winslow Sports Complex. After the conclusion of the park board's meeting, the transit board met to find a solution.\n"The board opted to provide an express bus down the Henderson and Walnut corridors in lieu of Park and Ride," Bloomington Transit general manager Lew May said.\nThe shuttle buses will begin Sept. 6 and will run Monday through Friday during the University's fall and spring semesters. May said the buses will begin their routes at 7:15 a.m. and continue every 15 minutes until 5:45 p.m.\nPresident of the Moss Creek Village Homeowners Association, Rose Mahern, counts the park board's decision as a victory. \n"Residents from both (the Bryan Park and Winslow Sports Complex) neighborhoods came together and said Park and Ride should not be in anybody's backyard," Mahern said.\nConflict rose after residents surrounding Bryan Park, the Park and Ride parking lot location for the past 12 years, voiced their concerns about the buses' noise and pollution in their neighborhood where buses ran every 10 minutes. Bloomington Transit suggested a temporary solution of moving the parking lot to the Winslow Sports Complex, but the residents of that area had concerns that echoed those of the Bryan Park residents.\n"We want what's best for the kids," Mahern said, "but we also want what's best for everybody."\nJeff Sorensen, junior and IUSA director of public relations, used the Park and Ride system his sophomore year and had a personal interest in the IUSA-backed student campaign to continue the program.\n"It kind of reminds me of being picked up in front of your house like they did in grade school," he said.\nWhile Sorensen is optimistic about the new service, IUSA president and senior Tyson Chastain is frustrated by the process of the decision.\n"I feel such a huge student issue should be considered when students are here and able to go to the meetings," Chastain said, referring to the board's original summer decision regarding the Park and Ride.\nChastain said he attended all of the meetings concerning the issue during the summer, but did not attend Tuesday's meeting or a meeting Aug. 25 because IUSA was not informed of them. He said he thinks students were underrepresented not because they don't care but because they were not in town to attend the meetings.\nMay said that although he was disappointed to see the era of Park and Ride come to an end, he thought the express shuttle was an acceptable alternative. \nSchedules and maps of the new bus route are now available on the Bloomington Transit's Web site, www.bloomingtontransit.com. May also said fliers with the new schedule will be passed out at Bryan Park beginning today through Friday.\n"We think it's a solution for the moment, but it could become permanent," May said. "Our board still feels strongly for Park and Ride. It's just a matter of finding a good location. "\n-- Contact staff writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu.