Route 4 adds Wehner Stop
From The Battalion
Published: January 13, 2014
After observing routes during the fall semester, Transportation Services has made an adjustment to Route 4, the “Gig ’Em” bus route.
Starting Jan. 6, Route 4 has a stop at Wehner. June Broughton, communications manager for Transportation Services, said the change better facilitates student needs.
“Route 4 [now] provides another route for those needing access to West Campus-Wehner from the engineering corridor and other areas along the north side of campus,” Broughton said. “It eliminates a bus change at the MSC.”
While the route will be a bit longer due to the change, Transportation Services said the benefits provided by the additional stop would make the small increase in route time worth the wait.
Transportation Services will also be providing signs to inform bus riders the different route options they have for traveling around campus, a project that began in the fall semester and will be expanded in the spring.
Madeline Dillard, assistant director for Transportation Services, said one example is Route 1, which like Route 4 also stops at Wehner. However, while Route 4 goes from Wehner to the MSC, Route 1 has two stops to make before going back to central campus. Dillard said the signs, which were first set up in the fall, alert passengers to the variations in the different routes.
“Last fall, more people parked at Reed Arena than ever before,” Dillard said. “We started displaying signs with options of how customers could ride to central campus, a kind of ‘Hey, did you know?’ message.”
To test out the new stop on Route 4, Dillard said Transportation Services made the change official starting Jan. 6.
“We put signs out the last week we were open for business last semester,” Dillard said. “The route has already been changed to get drivers and customers used to it. Our websites have also been updated.”
Transportation Services asks that students be aware that the first few days of school may also come with more crowded buses. Transportation Services encourages students to arrive early to the bus stops until the crowds die down and students plan out their transportation routes.
