 "Photo: Janice Veteran • Staff Photographer")
Students at the Rio Grande Campus may have noticed a particular change made during the beginning of this semester. Capital Metro's route 3, which used to pass through Austin Community College on Rio Grande Street, is no longer making stops at the campus. Instead, students who travel north or southbound must now walk to Lavaca Street or Lamar Boulevard to catch a bus.
"The percentage [of riders] is relatively low in comparison to the rest of the route," Capital Metro Transportation Authority route coordinator James Gamez said. "The number of the people on that bus stop was 4 percent of all riders ... only about 1 in 10 were getting off at that stop." Gamez said the increased amount of construction has impeded the route 3 bus' consistency over the past few years.
"We recently introduced an extension of [route] 18, which runs through MLK all the way out west past ACC and into Enfield," Gamez said. The route 18 bus can pick students up in front of the campus on 12th Street.
Student Mariah Brocket said she doesn't have a problem with the new change.
"It's fine because the 338 comes right up Lamar," she said. "I'm young and able to walk."
She said she doesn't understand why Capital Metro changed it, but assumes they had a good reason to. However, she also feels that there were a lot of students who really relied on it, especially students who are visually and hearing impaired.
The Student Government Association (SGA) began surveying students about their opinions on the matter Feb. 6, and asked those who relied on the route 3 bus to sign a petition.
SGA member James Juarez said, "We're concerned about the safety of the students walking those blocks at night [because] they're not well lit."
Juarez said there should at least be a patrol officer or street lights put in place to aid the many students who take the night bus.
"A lot of times the bus drivers don't see the students," he said.
According to Juarez, the survey process will last a couple of weeks before they take the results to ACC's board of trustees. Members of SGA will poll students at the campus as well as the bus stops.
For more information on the petition or to comment on the matter, contact James Juarez at bringbackbus3@ gmail.com.
is a member of the 
3 comments
As a result of our origin and destination surveys conducted by current riders, 106 riders are destined to ACC Rio Grande on Route 3 (4% of all riders). When Route 3 reaches ACC Rio Grande (in either direction), 9% of riders on board get off the bus; 91% continue on to their final destinations. Schedule changes improve travel time between 11th thru 29th street by 2-4 minutes due to the realignment improving overall route directness. Route 3 is currently 2-3 blocks from UT (which attracts nearly twice as many riders as ACC). Our overall goals aside from safety are to increase ridership, improve route directness and decrease travel times. We appreciate all feedback and will retain all reports and suggestions for further consideration. If you should have additional comments or concerns regarding your report please don't hesitated to contact our office directly. Thank you for riding Capital Metro.