Duke Energy work may close State St. bus stops

Duke Energy's work on streetlights along State Street may close bus stops served by Campus Loop and Regular Route buses today (Tuesday, August 31st).

A press release from Duke indicated that the westbound, right lane of travel will be closed between Grant St. and University Dr. If so, that means that no buses will be able to serve the stops along State St. at Purdue Memorial Union, Memorial Mall Dr., or Oval Dr.

Here is a list of the closest alternative bus stops for each bus route:

1B Salisbury Outbound: Beering Hall
4B Purdue West Outbound: Russell St. and State St.
5 Northwestern Outbound: Wood St. Parking Garage on S. Grant / Beering Hall
8 Willowbrook/Klondike Express: Wood St. Parking Garage on S. Grant / Russell St. and State St.
12 Gold Loop: Stewart Center
13 Silver Loop: Stewart Center
15 Tower Acres: Stewart Center
16 Bronze Loop: Stewart Center
17 Ross Ade: Stewart Center
19 South Campus: Beering Hall
21 College Station: Beering Hall
22 Campus Suites: Beering Hall
23 Wabash Trolley Line: Wood St. Parking Garage on S. Grant / Russell St. and State St.

CityBus truly regrets any inconvenience this cause our passengers and we thank you for your patience during this project.

Labor Day weekend service advisory

CityBus will not operate on Monday, September 6th in recognition of Labor Day. All offices will be closed for the day.

Because classes at Purdue will not be held on Monday, Campus Loop service will not operate over the weekend. All Campus Loop routes will end operations at 6PM Friday, September 3rd, and there will be no Black Loop or NightRider service on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights.

Regular route buses will operate the usual schedule on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

All service will resume on Tuesday, September 7th.

Clarification on "designated stop" policy

Beginning Monday, August 23, CityBus will serve designated stops only.

CityBus defines a designated stop as a location pre-selected to be a bus stop and listed on the stop list for a particular route. The stop lists for all routes are available on the CityBus web site. To see a stop list, click the link "see bus stop list" on the route's schedule information page. (In some cases, stop lists are provided as separate lists for outbound and inbound buses).

Bus stop signs exist at most locations, however some locations may not have a sign posted. Unfortunately, bus stop signs can disappear due to construction projects, accidents, and vandalism, and it can take several weeks for replacement signs to be installed.

For these reasons, CityBus passengers and bus operators should be guided by the stop list rather than the presence or absence of bus stop signage.

Main St. to close for OUTfest Sat. Aug. 21

Main Street in Lafayette will be closed between 6th and 9th streets starting at 2PM on SaturdayAugust 21st for Outfest. Buses and trolleys will detour around the closures as follows:

• 1A Market Square, evening inbound route will use Ferry St. instead of Main.
• 3A Lafayette Square, inbound bus will use Columbia St. instead of Main.
• Wabash Trolley, follow 11th to left on Ferry, left on 6th, resume route at Main.

CityBus to stop only at bus stops

Soon you’ll need to be at a bus stop to hop aboard CityBus. Starting Monday, August 23, CityBus will stop only at designated locations instead of at street corners along routes when flagged by passengers, which is the current practice.

General manager Martin Sennett says the bus company is making the change to improve efficiency and customer service.

“As ridership increases, it is important for us to operate efficiently in order to stay on time,” said Sennett. “With the current situation, passengers will wait for the bus along some routes at every corner, which slows our service down and results in delays.”

Sennett hopes customer service will improve by reducing conflicts and confusion about the right place to wait for the bus. “Our more than 80 drivers have 80 differing opinions about stop locations, and our thousands of customers also have their preferences,” said Sennett, describing the reasons why customer conflicts can occur.

CityBus has placed about a thousand bus stop signs along routes in Lafayette and West Lafayette during the past year, and has been advising riders of the change since Spring.

“Bus stops are placed about every two blocks along routes, so nobody will have to walk too far,” said Sennett, who anticipates that the transition will go smoothly. “We hope our customers understand our goal is to improve their experience by being more efficient and timely.”

Manager of Development John Metzinger said CityBus is already receiving some requests from riders for new bus stop locations. “We continue to evaluate requests and consider making changes when necessary,” he said.

Metzinger said online schedules now include a list of bus stops for each route to help customers find the closest stop. “Or just look for the bus stop signs; they’re everywhere.”

For information on riding CityBus, call (765) 742-RIDE for customer service, or visit the web site at www.gocitybus.com.