Two bus routes serving the Sycamore Road area have been consolidated after several weeks of discussion by the Student Association Mass Transit Board.

A motion to combine routes 7 and 9 failed at last week’s board meeting but passed Monday by a 9-1 vote. The new route will take effect at the start of the spring semester.

“The system will benefit from the change without too much flak,” said board member Rick Cibelli. Cibelli expressed interest in using the extra bus on either the 3 or 4 bus route, which often are overcrowded in winter.

According to a recent mass transit survey, 79 percent of respondents favor the route 7/9 combination, while 21 percent opposed the change.

The 7/9 combination will run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. After these hours and on weekends, the regular 40-minute route 7 will run.

The new route will leave Holmes Student Center hourly, travel to shopping areas on Sycamore Road and the NIU School of Engineering in Sycamore before returning on Normal Road to the student center.

Benefits of the new route include additional service to Sycamore and the engineering building, service leaving the student center on the hour, an additional bus for the 3 or 4 routes and budget savings.

The mass transit system will save about $8,500 with the combination, slightly easing a projected $36,000 mass transit deficit.

Downfalls of the combination include lengthening the route time from service every 40 minutes to hourly, elimination of service to the Greek Row area and a longer ride for passengers returning to campus from the Sycamore Road shopping area.