To better fit student needs and make bus runs more efficient, Off Campus College Transport (OCCT) is instituting several changes to its schedule which will take effect next semester.
According to OCCT Public Relations Coordinator Daren Marrom, a Route Committee made up of coordinators, drivers and monitors met once a week this semester to discuss major topics and problems. After brainstorming ideas, Marrom said, the Committee came up with several resolutions for each problem and evaluated them.
Time trials were then performed to see if the changes were feasible, Marrom said, and several are now slated to occur.
There will be three JC Westside buses an hour from 9 a.m. to noon, for example, instead of the usual two.
“This is being done because, as we have experienced increases in ridership this semester, morning JC Westsides (our most-used route) have become overcrowded and, as a result of this, passengers have been turned away,” Marrom said.
Weekend service is also scheduled to start with a 9 a.m. JC Westside instead of a 10 a.m., and campus shuttles will begin at 9:40 a.m., not 11:40 a.m. Another change is the addition of a Triple Cities bus, Marrom said, which will begin its run at 6 p.m. on weekdays and run every hour on the hour until 9 p.m. It will serve students going to University Plaza and Downtown, and from the University Downtown Center back to Main Street and Floral Avenue.
The Town Square Mall service after 6 p.m. on Monday through Thursday will be canceled, according to Marrom, as Broome County Transit extended their own Town Square Mall service.
“It wouldn’t make sense for us to still serve the same area at the same time, so we will … better use our resources where they are needed,” he said. “… We carefully plan our schedule to complement BC transits.”
Tentative changes include the rerouting of the Riviera Ridge-Town Square Mall run and the addition of buses traveling directly Downtown on Friday and Saturday nights to alleviate overcrowding.
The schedule will be finalized during finals week and posted on the OCCT Web site.
“It would be irresponsible if we did not take the time to asses the current service we offer and look for ways to make it better,” Marrom said. “This is what we are doing now and will continue to do as long as we exist.”