Shuttle

Two new stops are planned along route



A pedestrian waves at the Regional Transportation Authority shuttle as it heads west on Beach Access Road 1A on Thursday, March 24. The RTA is planning a couple of new stops on the route the shuttle takes through Port Aransas.

A pedestrian waves at the Regional Transportation Authority shuttle as it heads west on Beach Access Road 1A on Thursday, March 24. The RTA is planning a couple of new stops on the route the shuttle takes through Port Aransas.

The Port Aransas City Council has given its blessing to a proposal for some slight changes to the shuttle route in town.

The council heard a presentation from Wes Vardeman, outreach coordinator with the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), on Thursday, March 24. The council took no formal action, but none was required, and council members’ comments reflected general approval of the changes.

A public hearing also was held at the meeting, but no citizens commented.

Technically known as RTA Bus Route 94 – known to Port Aransas residents simply as The Shuttle – will get two new stops and have the location of an existing one moved slightly, Vardeman said.

The RTA will be changing its schedule literature to reflect the changes, Vardeman said. It also is working on getting signs and trashcans in place at the new stops, he said.

Vardeman said he’s shooting for having the shuttle begin making the new stops around Memorial Day.

A new stop will be added at the Cinnamon Shore subdivision on State Hwy. 361.

The agency also will add a stop on Ninth Street, behind the post office. In the past, the shuttle has, when requested by customers, stopped at a pullout on State Hwy. 361, across the street from the post office. But it wasn’t an official part of the route, Vardeman said.

The stop on Ninth Street will replace the unofficial stop off the highway, he said, adding that stopping even in a pullout off the highway won’t be as safe as stopping on Ninth Street.

The RTA also will relocate a stop at Mustang Beach Airport. Right now, the stop is in the airport parking lot. The stop will be moved a short distance away, to the west side of Island Moorings Parkway, near Piper Boulevard.

It’s difficult for the shuttle to find enough room to turn around in the airport parking lot when cars are in the lot.

In addition to the stops near the post office and at the airport, stops currently on the shuttle route are at Pioneer

RV Resort on State Hwy. 361, Beach Access Road 1A at On the Beach RV, various locations along 11th Street, the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, Roberts Point Park, the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and Horace Caldwell Pier.

The shuttle runs all day, every day. The first stop is at Pioneer RV at 10 a.m. The last is at the same location at 5:52 pm. The cost is 25 cents per trip.

The changes won’t take the shuttle longer to travel its route, because some wiggle room already has been built into the schedule, said Francisca Nixon, executive administrative assistant at Port Aransas City Hall. Nixon helps coordinate day-to-day shuttle activity.

Vardeman can be reached at (361) 903-3570.


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