MTA improves West End bus service

The Vanderbilt community will enjoy more bus routes and stops on West End Avenue as of Sept. 25, 2011. (Daniel Dubois/Vanderbilt University)

Improvements to the Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority system begin Sept. 25, 2011, with expanded service along the busy West End corridor. Two new routes and a modified Route 3 West End will create unprecedented access and improved frequencies between downtown Nashville and West End Avenue.

Buses will operate along the West End corridor from Music City Central to West End and 31st Avenue every 10 to 20 minutes on weekdays and every 20 to 40 minutes on weekends.

• Route 3 West End/White Bridge will continue to serve the White Bridge area. Service operates every 30 to 45 minutes weekdays and every 80 minutes on weekends and holidays.

• The new Route 5 West End/Bellevue provides weeknight and weekend service to the Bellevue area and covers the Bellevue portion served by the current Route 3 West End. Service operates every 30 to 45 minutes weekdays and every two hours on weekends and holidays.

• The new Route 11 West End/Belmont provides additional service to Belmont University. Service operates every 30 to 45 minutes weekdays and every 80 minutes on weekends and holidays.

“These routes will bring some of the best service levels offered in Nashville to the West End corridor between downtown and 31st Avenue,” Nashville MTA and RTA CEO Paul J. Ballard said. “The fact that we are adding night and weekend service to Bellevue is also significant.”

To help customers learn to navigate the new routes, MTA has created a combined schedule in anticipation that riders will want to travel on all three routes for business and entertainment purposes.

For more information, customers may visit the MTA website or call Customer Care at (615) 862-5950 from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sundays.

Vanderbilt full-time employees, graduate students and medical center volunteers ride to and from work or class for free on local MTA bus routes by swiping their Vanderbilt ID when boarding.

Contact: Jack Jakobik, (615) 936-5871
jack.jakobik@vanderbilt.edu