University students that pass the Burbank and Ben Hur intersection may see students “play[ing] frogger” when attempting to catch the bus at Arlington Cottages and Townhomes. Students living at Wildwood Baton Rouge have to cross Burbank Drive to Arlington Cottages or walk to the bus stop in front of the McDonald’s on Lee Drive if they want to catch a Tiger Trails bus.
University Office of Parking and Transportation Senior Director Jeff Campbell said he was contacted in December 2015 by the Wildwood management group which was interested in building a bus stop at the complex. Campbell informed the management group of the specifications it would need to meet in order to construct a proper bus stop.
“We [Tiger Trails] are not going to stop if there is not a proper bus stop,” Campbell said.
In order to comply with the specifications, a bus stop with a pull-off lane and sufficient support is necessary. Apart from this initial communication, Campbell said there was no further communication with Wildwood until he was contacted about why buses were no longer stopping at Wildwood.
Campbell said he monitored the construction of the bus stop, as he lives in Prairieville and drives past Wildwood on his way to work. Campbell noticed that the bus stop was not compliant with the specifications he gave the management group, but did not contact them regarding this as he did not feel it was his job to do so.
As the fall semester began, Campbell let the University’s bus contractor know that the Tiger Trails buses cannot stop at the Wildwood bus stop as they did not want to compromise the safety of students. However, as newly hired bus drivers began to drive the routes, this message may not have been communicated to all drivers, Campbell said. As the semester went on, some bus drivers stopped at Wildwood, others did not.
In November, Campbell noticed a large rut on the shoulder by the bus stop, which indicated that the buses had been stopping at Wildwood.
He contacted the bus drivers and told them that they could no longer pick up students from the Wildwood bus stop as they would block traffic without a pull-off lane and cause a safety concern for passengers.
Communication disorders and Spanish sophomore Avery Walker, a Wildwood resident, was standing at the bus stop one morning when the Nicholson Ben-Hur bus passed by the stop and did not pick up any students. Instead, Walker had to ride with a friend who was leaving the parking lot right after the buses did not stop.
“If my friend had not literally been pulling out at the exact same time, I would have been mad and I would have been late,” she said.
Walker said residents were never told by Wildwood or the Tiger Trails drivers that the Nicholson Ben-Hur bus would no longer stop to pick up students. Instead, Walker said Wildwood emailed students about a week later and gave no reason as to why the buses would no longer stop there. Walker said she feels Wildwood has not communicated sufficiently with residents about the issue.
“Any new complexes that build on our routes will certainly have to have a proper bus stop so it is safe for our buses,” Campbell said.
Wildwood management refused to comment on when a bus stop would be constructed that met the safety requirements.
Campbell also said he was contacted by Wildwood’s civil engineer and understands that there are plans to create a proper bus stop, but is unsure when it will be completed.