New bus stop suggested
October 1, 1991
Ideas flew around at the SAMTB meeting yesterday afternoon about adding a bus stop at Northland Plaza, 2500 Sycamore Road.
Pat Sanchez, Student Association mass transit board director, said he will put together a feasibility study committee to look into the issue of putting in a more accessible stop.
Charlie Battista, general manager for the Huskie Line, proposed running a “shopper” designed to hit only mall areas, so students riding the bus to get to class won’t have to sit for the hour ride.
He said it could run for a few hours on Saturdays and it could be called the “Seven Shopper”—if the SAMTB budget allows it. It might make both business people and students happy, he said.
Assistant Executive Director of the SAMTB Gary Jones said he liked the idea.
Sanchez said their main priority of getting a stop in the mall parking lot is to make the mall more accessible for disabled students. However, he said a shopper also is an alternative.
The feasibility committee will begin their study by sending out letters to the other stores for input on the location of a stop, Sanchez said. After the responses are gathered, test drives will be done to see how smoothly the buses can get in and out of the parking lot and if it is feasible, a stop will be chosen, he added.
“Though we would like to hit (all the shops), we just can’t,” Sanchez said. It would take too long to run the route, which already takes an hour to run.
This matter was brought to the attention of the SAMTB when a JC Penney Co. Inc., 2500 Sycamore Road, store manager made a request a few weeks ago for a stop in the mall parking lot.