Centro bus hub to be completed this spring
Centro’s work on a new transportation hub, set to open in June, will be completed this spring.
Steve Koegel, Centro’s director of marketing and communications, said the project has been in the works, at least conceptually, since the late ‘90s. The idea came to fruition last fall when the site for the new hub was chosen at the corner of East Adams, South Salina and South Warren streets.
In preparation for the new site, Koegel said about 14 various locations were considered. He said there were three main factors in the selection of the site: highway accessibility, location within the central business district and a significantly larger space.
‘We wanted a location that was still within the central business district of downtown Syracuse because many of our customers still need to go to downtown Syracuse where a good amount of jobs are,’ Koegel said.
He also said it was important that the bus stop has easy access to the highway, specifically to Routes 81 and 690.
Many features of the new hub will work to make the service more convenient for customers. Koegel said the new hub will have a heated and enclosed waiting area.
William Mellen, a freshman anthropology major at Syracuse University who uses the Centro bus service frequently, said he is looking forward to the heated, enclosed waiting area. He said it will be significantly better than the small overhang at the current location.
‘There are always people wandering around down there freezing, especially in the winter because the wind’s always blowing through there,’ Mellen said. ‘It’s really cold if you’re waiting, especially if people have to transfer.’
Koegel said Centro has outgrown its current location at the corner of Fayette and Salina streets, and this has caused some problems. He said there can be up to 22 buses at the stop, making it difficult for passengers to find their bus. The new hub will alleviate this problem by having buses line up in the same bay every day.
‘At the new location, when the buses converge on the new hub, passengers will be walking between bus bays, but they won’t be crossing busy city streets to get to their buses, so it’s a safer environment,’ Koegel said.
He said Centro did not receive many complaints about the difficulty of transferring, but it saw this was an issue that should be addressed with the creation of the new hub.
‘Our goal is to try to improve the service, and we know that it can be a challenge to locate your bus if you’re not familiar with our system down at the four corners where it is now. It’s one of those customer conveniences that’s pretty obvious that you want to try and do for your customers,’ Koegel said.
The site of the new hub, a few blocks south of where it is currently located, will lead to minimal changes in routing and the same locations will be served, Koegel said. Any changes that do occur would be small adjustments in the entrance and exit of the downtown area.
Mellen said he feels the previous location would be better than the new hub for reaching certain downtown destinations such as the Landmark Theatre. However, he said the added benefit of heat and shelter is more important than this slight difference in location.
Overall, Koegel said he thinks the new hub will better the customers’ experience with Centro. He also said he thinks this is an opportunity for Centro to service more students, as the new hub will take some of the complication out of bus transfers, which he believes could be daunting to students.
Said Koegel: ‘I think it’s an opportunity for maybe the Syracuse University students to use the system off the campus and see more of Syracuse and its surrounding communities.’
Published on February 21, 2012 at 12:00 pm
Contact Casey: cffabris@syr.edu | @caseyfabris
