Lawrence Transit is proposing several major and minor changes to citywide and KU bus routes, and staff will accept feedback from riders throughout the month of March.
Transit made several changes last year about a month after the Central Station opened. Staff members made additional changes to some routes in August. Now they’re returning to their annual cycle of seeking rider feedback in the spring to implement changes in August.
The proposed changes, as described in a news release Friday evening, are as follows:
Major changes
• Route 1: Proposed to have a direct connection from downtown to Haskell campus and to have service on both Haskell and Harper from 19th to 23rd.
• Route 3: Proposed to serve Ninth Street leaving and approaching Downtown. Keeping access to Heartland Community Health Center from Michigan.
• Route 4: Proposed to merge existing Route 4 and Route 10. To improve reliability, it will no longer take Jayhawk Boulevard and instead take West Campus Road. Proposed to continue to the Sixth Street Walmart, Dillons and Free State High School.
• Route 6: Proposed to return to serving Sixth Street East to West while still serving Centennial Park and the Merc. Slight route adjustments near Rock Chalk Park for better timing.
• Route 8: Proposed to serve the center of Haskell campus to provide better access for riders. Returned service to 27th Street for closer access to Prairie Park Elementary School. This route is no longer interlined with Route 10 to improve the schedule.
• Route 11/12: Adopting a B Schedule. B Schedule will operate on Saturdays, certain holidays, and when KU classes are not in session.
Minor changes
• Route 2: The southbound schedule is proposed to be 5 minutes later than today’s schedule, departing at 20 minutes past the hour.
• Route 5: Proposed to serve Haskell campus from 23rd Street. Small timing changes.
• Route 7: Proposed to provide bidirectional service to the South Iowa area instead of a one-way loop.
University changes
• Route 30/36: Proposed to simplify the interlining with Route 36 by utilizing Mississippi Street below the Kansas Union instead of the eastern end of Jayhawk Boulevard.
• Route 34/38: Proposed to remove service from Melrose Lane to improve route timing.
• Route 42: Proposed to simplify the route by removing the loops through Lot 90 or at Engineering / Burge Union. Passengers would board along Naismith Drive. Alternate 2 extends the route along Jayhawk Boulevard to the Kansas Union and GSP/Corbin.
• Route 44: Proposed to simplify the route to match route 42.
Riders can give feedback through March 31 via an online survey with descriptions of the proposed changes, available at this link. More details are available at this link.
“This set of route changes encompasses great ideas we heard from our riders in 2024 immediately after Route Redesign but couldn’t implement without more data,” Felice Lavergne, interim transit director, said in the release. “We heard what was important to riders and it’s a privilege to reflect those ideas back to the community to see if we got it right! These new proposals consider a year’s worth of ridership data, on time performance data, and all the public comment we received in 2024.”
The city is also planning a downtown transit station in the parking lot at the northeast corner of Eighth and Vermont streets. Construction will tentatively begin in early 2026. Read more about that project in the articles at this link.
Folks can ride Lawrence Transit buses fare-free for all of 2025.
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Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
