Students could be affected starting in July by a few transportation changes near ASU’s campuses. These changes will include an upfront U-Pass payment, different FLASH shuttle routes and new METRO light rail schedules.
U-Pass
Students who plan on using the U-Pass for both semesters will no longer be able to purchase the pass for $40 a semester. Instead, they will have to pay $80 during the fall semester.
“Students have given us feedback that it’s just easier to pay the $80 up front,” said Shereen Shaw, a communications specialist for ASU Parking and Transit Services.
“That way they’re covered for the entire academic year and they don’t have to worry about renewing for the second semester.”
She said that some students forgot to renew their passes last semester and were stuck without a U-Pass, since there was a renewal deadline, so this is the reasoning behind the change.
Students can use the pass from Aug. 16 to May 15.
If students are graduating at the end of the fall semester, they can return the U-Pass by Dec. 31 for a $40 refund, Shaw said.
Other students who only need the U-Pass for the fall semester can also get the refund before the deadline.
For students who only need the pass in the spring, they can wait to purchase the pass for $40 at the beginning of the spring semester.
FLASH bus routes
Changes to the Tempe campus and community FLASH bus route took effect Thursday.
Two shuttles now incorporate University Drive into their stops, and the separate shuttle to University Drive was discontinued.
Shaw said that it’s more cost effective to re-route the two shuttles and to get rid of another route, while still providing service to a needed area.
An additional route will be incorporated into the FLASH bus system as well starting August.
Although the actual route and hours won’t change, the shuttle on McAllister Avenue will now be run by the city of Tempe instead of ASU, Shaw said.
Intercampus shuttles
ASU’s intercampus shuttles will be experiencing some minor changes in July and August.
For example, road construction near Gammage Parkway and Forest Avenue will cause a detour for the shuttles, and students will have to board at a new location starting Tuesday and ending Aug. 9.
The new stop is located on the north side of Lemon Street, across the street from the Apache Boulevard Parking Structure and south of the Business Administration buildings.
The construction also affects FLASH shuttle locations. According to the ASU Parking and Transit Web site, students can board the FLASH Forward shuttle on the east side of Mill Avenue, north of 11th Street.
Students can board FLASH Back in front of the ASU Police Department building.
Another change to intercampus shuttles includes eliminating a stop for the Polytechnic campus shuttle.
Students will no longer have the option to stop at the Gilbert Gateway Town Center at the beginning of the fall 2010 semester.
The stop has been around since the 2007-2008 school year.
“Polytechnic campus is located in an area that’s a bit remote from nearby shopping centers, or had been anyway at that point in time,” Shaw said.
She said shopping area developments around the campus currently are taking away the necessity of the stop, as well as the use of the on-campus Zipcar car rental service.
“We have recently seen a consistent and steady decrease in the number of students actually taking advantage of getting off and boarding at that location,” Shaw said.
METRO light rail
The METRO light rail will be lengthening its arrival times starting July 26, which will help save money that was lost due to a decrease in sales tax revenue.
During weekdays, the frequency between arrival times will increase from 10 to 12 minutes during the peak hours, which are the busiest service hour, said Hillary Foose, spokeswoman for METRO light rail.
The peak hours were previously 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., but now they are 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The light rail arrives every 20 minutes when the time is outside of the peak hours.
“The biggest change is going to be for people who were coming in on light rail in the morning who were used to 10-minute service,” she said, which requires more planning.
There will also be several additional holidays observed during which the arrival times will be every 20 minutes, and the holiday hours are the same as on Sundays.
Examples of holidays added are Christmas Eve and Veteran’s Day, since there is less of a demand on the light rail, Foose said.
With people spending less, the sales tax revenue the light rail depends on has decreased, she said.
“The state used to give individual cities state lottery revenues to help support city transportation services,” Foose said, referring to the Local Transportation Assistance Fund that was cut in February. “With the state doing their part to balance their budget, they actually swept those funds.”
More scheduling changes could come next July, she said, but not earlier because this year’s budget is mainly set.
Downtown transit station
A renovation of the Central Station transit center near the Downtown campus will begin this month and will shut down the station’s bus stop.
However, the light rail will not be affected.
Federal government grants will be used to renovate the station.
“We have more uses for Central Station than we did before, and we need to make some changes based on that,” said Marie Chapple, a spokeswoman for the City of Phoenix Public Transit Department. The addition of the light rail, which started running December 2008, is one reason for the refurbishment, she added.
Some modifications include adding more shade and expanding buildings, though the overall appearance won’t change much, Chapple said.
Although multiple bus routes overall have been eliminated or changed, some might affect students more directly, including the DASH Downtown Loop.
This bus route, which passes through the Downtown campus, will be cut July 26.
Reach the reporter at reweaver@asu.edu
