 "Photo: Caleb Miller")
When journalism sophomore Lisa Hernandez went downtown for her sorority parties, she either drove to her friend's apartment on Riverside to take the E-Bus or took turns with her friends driving and paying for the parking garages.
This week, Hernandez and her friends will get ready in her room at Kinsolving Dormitory and then take the new E-Bus stop right outside the dorm to Sixth Street.
An E-Bus stop was added to the corner of Dean Keeton and University Avenue as part of Capital Metro's January bus route adjustments.
Capital Metro spokesman James Gomez said the decision for the stop outside Kinsolving came from student and UT Parking and Transportation Services requests.
"There's a stop in front of Jester, which is all the way across campus. A lot of the girls in heels do not want to walk that far to take the bus," Hernandez said. "There's a lot of students on this side of campus now, especially with the new [Almetris Duren] dorm."
Hernandez said that because of the new stop she will not have to pay for parking or worry about getting lost downtown.
"The E-Bus is a good thing because there won't be as many drunk drivers out there," Hernandez said. "I am happy they are finally putting an E-Bus stop on this side."
E-Bus supervisor Jeff Denning said Capital Metro made a stop at Kinsolving between October and December to see if students would ride it. When more people started showing up at the stop, they decided to make it permanent.
The bus transports up to 3,000 students a night, and the busiest hours are around 2 a.m., Denning said.
"People are always wanting to bring their pizza on the bus, and girls are always wanting to take their heels off," he said. "It is a kind of art to patrol the place."
Capital Metro also made adjustments to the East Campus, Red River, Intramural Fields, Crossing Place and Wickersham Lane shuttle stops. The Disch-Falk bus is now called East Campus because of naming rights, Gomez said.
He said the company added more stops to these routes because of overcrowding during the fall semester.
"Many of the buses have over 60 percent students and faculty," he said. "We take UT people under consideration when making route changes."
The new express route that goes from downtown Austin to the Oak Hill Park and Ride added trips in the morning and afternoon that went into effect Jan. 13, Gomez said.
He said Capital Metro changes its routes every January, August and summer.
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