More improvements for bus rider and bicyclists!

A new bus shelter on Beaver Street on the campus of Northern Arizona University.

Nice to see the new bus shelters on the NAU campus.  The shelters are sturdy, attractive and blend in with the campus buildings; they are protected from wind, rain and snow on three sides; they have interior seating; and they include route maps so help passengers find their next stop and transfer points.  I'm not sure if the shelter has LED lighting as I haven't ridden past it after dark yet but I suspect that it does.  Notice that this shelter has a bike corral next to it.  Bike corrals are also located across the street and several feet to the other side of this shelter.  NAU does a great job providing bike corrals all over campus.  They are all very functional, allowing cyclists to lock their bike at the frame rather than just on the wheel.

NAU's bus service links to the City's Mountain Line (like Mountain Lion, get it??) so students can easily travel from campus to jobs, off-campus housing or shopping.  Mountain Line doesn't come out to my neighborhood, however.  I hope that the university and the city will partner to correct that omission in service.  Many students and NAU employees live in Ponderosa Trails and would use the service if it was offered.  My husband and I could easily go car-free if we had bus service out here, and even if we didn't being able to combine bus and bicycle would be a real money saver.  We already have superior bike infrastructure here compared with many communities.  Why not seal that gap in our transportation options?  I know that extending service out here is on the "wish list" and finding a way to pay for it is likely problem number one.  The service does have to be paid for.  I voted a few years ago to raise the local sales tax for expanded routes and lower circulations times outside my immediate area so I'd certainly do it again applying to my own neighborhood.