Bus routes modified without notification

NYU has yet to make a formal announcement, but if you frequent the NYU buses, you've probably noticed it: The routes and schedules have been significantly revamped since last year.

Five NYU bus routes — A, B, C, D and E — were in operation this past school year. Since then, the Department of Public Safety has eliminated all but the B and E routes.

The A route, which used to service the former Water Street residence hall, closed in conjuction with the expiration of NYU's lease on the dorm at the end of the 2008-09 school year. The C and D routes have also been eliminated. Route C provided service to graduate housing in Stuyvesant Town and the East Village area, while Route D provided service west of Washington Square Park, including Greenwich Hotel residence hall. Each of the remaining routes, B and E, have been modified to provide service to each of these locations.

The B route, which formerly served Broome Street and Lafayette Street residence halls exclusively, will now connect to Greenwich Hotel, replacing the D route with 11 stops to the dorm on Mondays through Thursdays, roughly every one-and-a-half to two hours. The E route will no longer include a stop on Third Avenue and 14th Street near Coral Towers residence hall. And a new stop has been added on 12th Street and First Avenue to serve residents in Stuyvesant Town, said Fred Barlow, the department's assistant director for training, transportation and administration. He added that the department has increased the number of trips on the schedule to accomodate a projected increased ridership.

Despite these changes, NYU has made no formal announcement of the new routes. The Department of Public Safety has updated online schedules on its website, but the site still features last year's transportation map. Also, neither the service announcements page nor the mailing list provides any information on the route changes, and no postings have been made outside the main bus stop at 715 Broadway or on the buses themselves.

Stern senior Yoon Jung Kim said she wished the university had better publicized the changes.

"I called the Student Resource Center a couple days ago after hoping the site would be updated or something, and the girl I talked to there seemed unsure of herself," Kim said.

When asked what steps Public Safety had taken to inform riders about the changes, Barlow said the department would "continue to make every effort to notify passengers of service changes."

In addition to the route changes, the schedules themselves have changed. Based on feedback from riders, according to Barlow, the schedules will no longer list what time a bus will arrive at any given location along the route, except for major loading stops. He said this was prompted by passengers complaints about inaccuracate timelines.

Barlow added that drivers are still required to stop their buses at scheduled locations and that the department uses GPS to monitor and investigate compliance with their policy.

Barlow said ridership on Route E traditionally has been higher than the one on Route B. As a result, the larger transit buses will continue to be assigned primarily to Route E, and trolleys will be assigned primarily to Route B.

While mid-semester changes are uncommon, Barlow said there are "no time restrictions as to when adjustments that might be warranted would be implemented" and that the department will "closely monitor load factors" to determine whether it should make changes — including restoration of additional service — to the schedules and routes.

He also said that the department welcomed rider feedback on the issue.

Sergio Hernandez is a senior staff writer.