After a summer meeting where La Jolla residents shared their
grievances about public transportation, the Metropolitan Transit System
recently altered the 48 and 49 bus routes, eliminating service to areas
adjacent to Via Mallorca, Via Alicante and Gilman Drive behind La Jolla Village
Square. However, many UCSD students have expressed frustration with the
decision to cut off service to the heavily populated area.
The route was altered after a June hearing, which determined
that MTS would increase the bus system’s operational efficiency by cutting out
a portion of the route that it deemed ineffective and unnecessary. At the same
meeting, many
that students frequently loitered near bus stops in residential areas, creating
a significant problem in their area.
Many of the students who live in housing complexes like
Archstone and Apartments on the Square are now forced to take the Nobel shuttle
provided by UCSD Transportation and Parking Services. The location presents
problems for some students because not only is the bus stop farther away from the
students’ residences, but the shuttle is oftentimes overcrowded after its first
stop at the corner of Nobel Drive and Lebon Drive.
“Coming to school has become a lot more inconvenient because
of the increase of people who are at the same shuttle stop now,” Revelle
College sophomore Nisha Jadhaw said. “A
lot more people have to take the shuttle to school because the 48/49 does not
run near their houses. I have had to come to the shuttle stop 30 minutes before
class, and still get to class late because shuttles and buses have had to pass
our stop because they were so full. My roommate has had to miss class because
she never got on a bus.”
The Villa Mallorca area has recently registered multiple
reports of stolen and vandalized property, posing a concern for students forced
to linger in the neighborhood, Revelle College Council Senior Representative
Aria Jafari said.
“The recent cancellation of the bus lines only exacerbates
the preexisting situation by leaving students vulnerable at odd hours,” Jafari
said.
Student activism pushed MTS officials to abandon their
original plans to eliminate other routes serving the campus area, according to
T&PS Hillcrest Medical Center and Rideshare Options Manager Samuel Corbett.
“Unfortunately, the 48/49 service change hearings occurred
during the summer when much of the campus community was not around,” Corbett
said. “MTS has recently attempted to further cut service on other transit
routes (Routes 921 and 41) to campus, but we have managed to preserve this
vital transit service to campus by applying political pressure and getting UCSD
students, staff and faculty to e-mail MTS protesting the service change.”
