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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Bus Routes Into City Integrated Into One

By Lee Ross
Mountain View Telegraph
      Bureaucracy be damned, the I-40 Pilot Bus will not disappear.
    "I'm actually pretty thrilled that they didn't take it away," said Lydia Koch, a Sandia National Laboratories employee.
    That's because the Park and Ride program, which was named the I-40 Pilot Bus, that ran from Moriarty to Kirtland Air Force Base, has been added to the Turquoise Route, which runs from Moriarty to Alvarado Center.
    The route was originally added to mitigate traffic while westbound Interstate 40 was reduced to one lane for construction, from May 5 to July 19. Both lanes have been restored, but an altered version of the route will continue to operate, according to information from the Department of Transportation.
    Rather than two buses running each route, there will now be only one bus per route on the new, consolidated Turquoise Route. Basically, the first bus to KAFB, which left Moriarty at 5:24 a.m., and the second bus to Louisiana and Downtown, which left at 6:50 a.m., have been eliminated.
    Koch, who was instrumental in getting the bus service started, said the consolidated route may encourage more people to ride one bus, which, if ridership continues to increase, could lead to the addition of another bus anyway.
    Even after the program got started, Koch took it on herself to tend to the route, putting up cardboard signs with bus schedules at bus stops in Albuquerque and in the East Mountains.
    "The unfortunate thing is that they (the New Mexico Department of Transportation) will not add anything to the Park and Ride signs," she said, adding that she was not able to add signs to the stop in Edgewood. "Edgewood has pretty strict sign laws, and they rip signs down as fast as they go up."
    For all her efforts, Koch is slated to receive Albuquerque's "MOVE UP" award for her volunteer work on Friday at the Albuquerque Museum.
    "My peers got together and nominated me. That was a nice surprise," Koch said.
    The award is presented by Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez and stands for Mayor's Office of Volunteerism and Engagement.
    In her spare time, Koch plays accordion, piano, organ, guitar, is learning the violin and teaches a number of instruments, and rides her motorcycle. She said she already has an idea for another project.
    "Maybe I'll start my own demolition derby," she said. "They take so many cars from drunks ... "
    According to the new schedule for the bus — which will go into effect Aug. 1 — the original route starts in Moriarty at 5:55 a.m. with stops in Edgewood, Sedillo and now includes a stop in Tijeras. It arrives at the Uptown Transit Center on Louisiana and Uptown Blvd. at 7 a.m. and Alvarado Center at First St. and Central Ave. at 7:30 a.m. The return bus starts at 4:30 p.m. at Alvarado, is at Uptown by 4:55 p.m. and arrives in Moriarty at 6 p.m.
    The bus to Sandia National Laboratories starts at 5:56 a.m. in Moriarty, stops in Edgewood, Sedillo and Tijeras and the last stop on the morning run is at 7:25 a.m. The return bus makes its first stop at 4:40 p.m. and it is in Moriarty at 6:06 p.m. For both routes the one-way fair is $3 and a monthly pass is $90.
    For more detailed information call 243-RIDE (7433) or go to www.nmparkandride.com.
   

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