Students will be able to catch the BruinBus at three additional locations on campus and in Westwood.
Students and staff taking the northbound Wilshire route through Westwood Village can now stop behind the Hammer Museum on Lindbrook Drive. Those traveling south can stop in front of the restaurant Panera Bread on Westwood Boulevard and at Murphy Hall. UCLA Transportation Services added the stops to its BruinBus Wilshire Route Jan. 3.
Officials decided to add the stops after a large number of UCLA employees began work in the 10889 Wilshire Building on Jan. 1, said Clinton Bench, director of UCLA Fleet and Transit.
The new stops will improve UCLA student and employee access between campus and the village, and facilitate bus transfers to Metro’s Rapid Line 720 bus on Wilshire, Bench said in an email.
Bench said that though Wilshire Route buses will continue to run every eight to 10 minutes, afternoon service may produce longer wait times due to traffic and the extended bus route.
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Brett Manisco, a graduate student in law, said he thinks the new stops may slow down bus arrival times.
“I imagine more stops would probably be better, but it probably slows people down,” he said. “There’s going to be some kind of trade-off.”
Louise Huang, a third-year communication studies student, said the new bus stop near Murphy Hall made it easier for her to commute to North Campus, where she has class in the Luskin School of Public Affairs Building.
Margaret Griffin, who works for the Dodd Humanities Group as a finance analyst, said the BruinBus has made it convenient for her to eat in Westwood during her lunch break. She added more stops would make it easier for students to travel around campus and the Village.
“I like the idea of it stopping more in Westwood,” she said.