Due to East Avenue’s closure for maintenance and road repairs until May 9, bus stops will be rerouted along West Avenue, Tower Road and Garden Avenue, according to Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit.
The construction has caused the TCAT to re-route and has resulted in delays to the bus schedule, according to Patty Poist, TCAT Communications Marketing Manager.
“Generally, there can be delays throughout this duration … due to congestion caused by the construction and rerouting,” Poist said.
TCAT announced Tuesday on its website that routes 10, 30, 32, 75 (weekend), 81, 82, and 90 are on detour for the remainder of the project, several days after East Avenue closed.
Poist said that these bus re-routes will remain the same throughout the construction, assuming other construction does not interfere.
Community members expressed frustration with the route changes, time delays and increased commute time.
Alice Li ’18 said on Tuesday she was forced to wait around 20 minutes for a TCAT bus to arrive at its designated bus stop.
“I waited for the 9:54 bus on Highland and Wyckoff …[but] it never came,” she said. “I waited at the bus stop for another 20 minutes to finally get on the 10:12 bus, which was also late. It looped around down to West [campus] before it arrived even close to Goldwin Smith Hall. The delay caused me to miss my class.”
Li said she was especially frustrated because the bus re-routes were not released until midday Tuesday.
“I live pretty far from central campus and the with the new rerouted bus schedule I cannot rely on the bus to get me to classes on time,” Nicole Forman ’18 said. “I have had to walk all of this week.”On behalf of TCAT operations, Poist apologized for the delays invoked by the rerouting.
“We apologize for any inconveniences but that’s just the downside of improving our infrastructure,” she said.
Frustration with TCAT route changes and subsequent increased commute time is compounded by major construction and road closures in Collegetown, according to Amanda Levin ’16.
“All of a sudden yesterday, they closed every road in collegetown, the road right in front of my driveway,” Levin said, who lives on Eddy Street.
Levin emphasized how this construction makes her trip to campus more difficult.
“You have to leave 10 extra minutes to get anywhere and there are near accidents every day because the buses can’t fit down the half closed roads,” she said. “Then, once you get to campus, the main road is closed again, which has been closed for two and a half of my four years here.”
Poist said community members should expect other detours and bus re-routes as “we approach construction seasons.” TCAT will release these route changes once construction is confirmed.
“We just ask passengers to be patient,” Poist said.