November 11, 2011 > Youth ridership increases Youth ridership increases Submitted By the City of Union City This school year, New Haven Unified School District (NHUSD) terminated several of its bus routes to the middle schools. Following the closure of Barnard White Middle School and the transfer of students to Cesar Chavez Middle School, Union City Transit anticipated an increase in student ridership from the Decoto neighborhood to Cesar Chavez. Working with the operations contractor, MV Transportation, internal scheduling was re-arranged so that bell-time runs of Routes 2 and 4, which serve the Decoto neighborhood, complemented Routes 1A and 1B which serve the Alvarado-Niles Road corridor. These adjustments permit the schedules to remain the same while keeping children safely aboard the vehicles without having to transfer buses. Students arrive at school approximately 15-20 minutes before the bell time. Tripper buses also run during the morning and afternoons to accommodate additional students travelling from the west side of Union City. Last year, NHUSD's elimination of home-to-school transportation for James Logan High School added pressure to the system. So far, this school year has seen a year-on-year increase of more than 30 percent in youth ridership. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Union City Transit will conduct a Short-Range Transit Plan this winter to consider other opportunities for route changes and modifications. Unfortunately, Union City Transit cannot provide specialized service for shuttles or school bus service because of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regulations.