Kathlene Sullivan takes a Red Rose Transit bus from her Lancaster City home to the Manor Shopping Center for groceries sometimes five days a week.
Media Center
Related Stories
On most Saturdays, when she needs to stock up for the weekend, she makes the trip three separate times.
"I have arthritis, and I have trouble carrying heavy loads," says Sullivan, 55, of Columbia Avenue.
It's a convenient trip.
RRTA's Route 16 bus to Millersville drops off and picks up Sullivan and a group of regulars — many of them senior citizens who no longer drive, as well as a couple of visually impaired riders — right in front of Weis Market.
But that might change.
The public-transit authority, as part of an effort to improve the quality and efficiency of its bus lines, has proposed numerous changes across its suburban lines — including the elimination of stops inside the plaza on the Millersville bus' way back into town.
The Route 16 line would still drop riders off in front of Weis and the CVS drugstore on the way out of the city. But on the way back to Lancaster, it would pick them up along Millersville Pike, forcing riders to walk across at least 50 yards of the center's busy parking lot to get to the bus stop.
"The reason behind the proposal is, we did counts to see how many people were getting on and off the bus on the way back into town, and the counts are low," RRTA executive director Dave Kilmer said.
"And with traffic, it's getting harder and harder to keep the buses running on time. If we can save a little bit of time not going into the shopping center ... that's the reason behind it," Kilmer said.
But Sullivan, who has gathered some 30 signatures from riders opposed to the idea, says she is worried about her safety should the proposal be approved.
"One of the arguments from RRTA was that the parking lot has become so congested with traffic," Sullivan said. "That is a most telling reason not to have pedestrians crossing the lot.
"I'm a real fan of RRTA who just wants to see public safety not be sacrificed to efficiency," she said.
The transit authority will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes at 6 p.m. on June 17. The meeting will be held at RRTA's operations center, at 45 Erick Road in Lancaster.
The authority board will likely vote on the changes afterward, and those that are approved would take effect on Aug. 31.
RRTA chief operations officer Mike Haggerty said the authority has heard from riders concerned about this proposed change. He deferred questions to Kilmer but did say, "I think there's been enough pushback on this issue that we're probably not going to follow through with it."
Kilmer said the authority will weigh all the concerns from the public hearing before making any final decisions.
"Nothing is put in stone," he said. "It's only a proposal. Sometimes, if we do get a lot of responses from the public, if they don't want us to make a change, a lot of times we won't do it."
Sullivan said she intends to make her case before the authority on June 17.
"Until the fat lady sings, I don't want to trust anything," she said. "I will follow through with the petition campaign."
Following is a route-by-route look at proposed changes:
• Route 3 (Park City C/8th Ward): Add three daily trips at 7:20 and 11:15 a.m., and 4:50 p.m. to Sterling Place.
• Route 11 (Ephrata): Eliminate trips into Oregon Dairy Farm Market lot due to low ridership.
• Route 13 (White Horse): Eliminate trips into Greenfield at 6:30 a.m. daily and 12:05 p.m. Saturday due to low ridership.
• Route 14 (Rockvale Square): Eliminate the Paradise extension on the 6:30 a.m. trip and add service to Wal-Mart, East Town Centre and Rockvale Square Outlets. Revise Sunday schedule by moving the fare zone at Witmer Road east to Bowman Drive.
• Route 15 (Willow Street): Travel Lakes Drive and through new Lancaster General/Willow Lakes facility on all trips, and eliminate trip onto West Willow Drive.
• Route 16 (Millersville): Eliminate inbound swing into Manor Shopping Center on all trips.
• Historic Downtown Trolley: Eliminate morning and afternoon peak period trips due to low ridership. Those are at 7:25, 7:45, 8, 8:15, and 8:45 a.m. and 4:05, 4:35, 4:55 and 5:25 p.m. Also travel Farnum Street instead of Vine Street.
Staff writer Tom Murse can be reached at tmurse@LNPnews.com or 481-6021.
