Bloomington revises shuttle, taxi downtown traffic patterns | Courtesy of Shutterstock
Bloomington revises shuttle, taxi downtown traffic patterns | Courtesy of Shutterstock
The city of Bloomington recently announced changes in the downtown shuttle and taxi hubs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
The 500 block of North Main is currently used by downtown shuttles as a staging area. The shuttles, which are often large buses, bring a number of challenges to the traffic pattern.
Visibility, maneuvering for open spaces and the volume of traffic in the area are factors in traffic accidents, including an incident when a car struck a police officer. Pedestrians are also at risk as they dart between the buses to catch a taxi.
In addition, the presence of the smaller shuttles, buses, taxis and Transportation Network Company (TNC) vehicles, such as Uber, brings hundreds of pedestrians and potential passengers to a single block. The overcrowded sidewalks and large vehicles impede police officers' visibility as they work to prevent small problems from developing into large incidents.
The city is implementing a revised traffic plan that will move the large downtown shuttle buses to the 500 block of North Center Street. The street will be closed to other vehicles between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Taxis and TNC vehicles will continue to pick up passengers on North Main Street.
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