New UNA bus routes to be implemented in the fall will make it easier for students who live in off-campus apartments to get to school. According to UNA Police Chief Bob Pastula, the UNA shuttle bus routes will be extended to pick students up at certain apartment complexes within the city of Florence.

“There’s not enough parking,” Pastula admitted.

He said the new routes will help UNA students get to class faster and keep them from getting parking tickets in the process.

Pastula explained to start with, the routes would be centered around the apartment complexes on Helton Drive. These complexes include Ivy Green, Red Fern, Courtyard, Four Seasons and Florence Arms. Pastula said he was more than willing to take input from students to see where additional routes were needed.

“If students are willing to give a shot, it will be the best thing in the world,” Vice President for Student Affairs David Shields said. “This new route will not only save gas for students, but it will save time.”

“Ridership is what it is all about,” Pastula said. “As long as it makes some sort of sense, we will continue to add routes to help students.

“Students need to take advantage of the buses so we can keep it going,” he added.

Pastula urged students in the range of this new bus route to ride the bus. His main worry is that students just will not ride the buses.

“The new routes will cost several thousands of dollars,” Shields explained.

Shields encourages students to utilize the new routes, because in order for them to be a success the buses need to be utilized. Shields and Pastula both expressed the need for students to use the buses so that the investment is worth it.

Shields and Pastula both warn that with the new routes and parking lots, patrolling for parking violations will increase in the future. “If you do not have a permit, you will get a ticket,” Shields added.

Students like UNA junior and resident at The Woodlands Bailey Howton think the new routes are a great idea. “The buses save gas and are very convenient,” Howton said. “UNA should have done this a long time ago.”

Howton said that the current bus routes do not make much sense.

“The buses only run where people can walk to class, and they serve no real purpose,” she said.

Howton added that she never sees people on the buses.

“My friends at Auburn and Alabama love riding the transit system,” Howton said. “They like that the bus drops them right off at class.”

Howton said she is excited for the buses to drop her right off at her classes instead of driving around in circles looking for a spot. “Even if it takes the bus 20 minutes to get you to school, it takes 20 minutes to find a spot on campus,” Howton said.

Howton said she is excited for the effect that the new bus routes will have on parking.

“The parking problem will not be completely fixed, but this is a step in the right direction,” Howton said.

Pastula said UNA police are currently in the early stages of finding an off-campus parking facility for extra parking. Pastula said incoming freshmen starting this fall will have to park in off-campus parking lots and ride an additional shuttle bus to campus.

According to Pastula and Shields, the current location of interest for the off-campus parking area is the Lauderdale Lanes parking lot off Florence Boulevard. “Police patrols will be increased in these areas,” Shields said. Shields also said after one year of parking in the off-campus lots, incoming freshman would be upgraded to an on-campus parking permit.

For more information regarding the routes and new parking regulations, contact the UNA Police Department at (256) 765-4357.