Western Courier

Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Martyn Davis Go West Transit plans to expand bus routes to better accommodate students and the local community.

Go West Transit plans to expand bus routes and bus route frequencies for the Fall 2008 Semester to fulfill the growing needs of Western Illinois University students as well as the local community.

Coverage of the Macomb city area is problematic, according to Go West Director Jude Kiah. He said it has been short-changed to some degree, and Go West is working to fix that. The routes under consideration for adjustment are 6, 7, 8 and 9, which cover the East Jackson business route, the Square, Spoon River College, McDonough District Hospital, Macomb schools, Eisenhower Tower and most major areas in between.

"Right now, we have three buses at any given time that are running four routes. So, essentially, we are doing too much with too little," Kiah said. "We really need to be running four buses, and we're robbing Peter to pay Paul on areas that necessarily we shouldn't be doing."

This will be fixed by adding more buses to the routes, although Go West cannot yet offer specific details about what will change. There will, however, be some kind of increase in service.

"We try to cover too much ground with the routes we are currently doing," Kiah said. "If we had four buses running four distinct routes, then that would give us the opportunity to shorten some of the geographical boundaries of those routes and increase service in those areas."

Go West already has proposals in motion to lease new vehicles sometime in the near future. If the motion passes, new vehicles could be up and running anywhere from 6 to 12 months.

This planned expansion would also affect those students intending to live in "The OC @ WIU," the new off-campus housing going up on South Ward and Grant streets. The frequency of Route 9, the one that serves that particular area, is irregular and would be subject to an increase.

"We are looking at the frequency of (Route 9)," Kiah said.

Kiah added that he does not believe the route would run as frequently as in the northwest quadrant. In that area, home to Turnberry Village and Aspen Court apartment complexes, routes run in roughly 15-minute intervals.

"I can't imagine that we could get to anything more than a 30-minute frequency," Kiah said.

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