Revised bus routes, parking 'zones' streamline morning commute

Published on Friday, February 16, 2018

By: Bruce Coleman

University of Mississippi Medical Center employees and students who use the complimentary shuttle bus service to ride to and from campus will need to take note of where they should park at Mississippi Veterans Memorials Stadium next Tuesday.

New shuttle bus routes scheduled to debut Feb. 27 will help streamline the service and get employees and students where they need to go more safely and more efficiently.

According to Dr. Jonathan Wilson, chief administrative officer, the stadium parking lot will be organized into “zones” according to the shuttle bus routes. The shuttle buses will follow a corresponding path in the stadium lot that will cater to specific locations on campus. The goal of zone parking is to increase the opportunity for riders to catch a shuttle bus more often and to transport them more quickly to their final destinations. He said riders must keep in mind that some destinations are not direct and passengers may need to finish their trip with some walking.

Wilson led the Shuttle Service Task Force, a group of UMMC administrators that studied the existing shuttle bus routes; a traffic study performed by a nationally recognized firm; and suggestions made by numerous shuttle bus riders, UMMC employees and students and others who regularly park at the stadium and use shuttle transportation. He said the scheduled March 30 permanent closure of a section of Peachtree Street on the southeastern portion of UMMC’s main campus and other scheduled traffic flow changes caused by construction of the Children’s of Mississippi expansion factored into the group’s overall plan.

"To improve the shuttle bus service, we took into account what our students and employees had to say to develop a more coordinated plan that will make riding the buses as convenient as possible while making the service safer for pedestrians,” Wilson said. “We have been working on this for some time, and the data we considered goes back several years. We reviewed rider volumes by time and location as well. Construction of the Children’s of Mississippi expansion helped give us a deadline for these changes.”

Physical Facilities Parking Services will update the signs posted at each shuttle bus stop shelter throughout the stadium parking lot and on campus to indicate which shuttle bus will service each respective area. These signs will be posted before the shuttle bus routes change. Once the changes go into effect on Feb. 27, riders can look for GPS updates on the ETA SPOT app. Map information and shuttle bus routes also will be available online.

Some of the shuttle route changes UMMC employees and students should keep in mind include:

 • Individuals who park in the appropriate zone for their Medical Center destinations will be able to navigate transportation services much more quickly and efficiently.

 • Medical Center students should use the Gold Line or the Gold Line Plus, which also services the Farmer’s Market parking area. The Gold Line Plus will only operate when stadium parking is full.

 • The Blue Line will serve the health systems portion of UMMC’s main campus.

 • The Red Line, a shuttle bus service line being introduced with these improvements, is a new “express” line that will pick up and drop off individuals in the “circle” surrounding Veterans Memorial Stadium.

 • A new Shuttle Bus Stop 30 and the relocation of Shuttle Bus Stop 27 to the stop sign at the vehicle gate near Upper West Stadium Drive will be completed.

 • UMMC Campus Police will open pedestrian gates on the “circle” for easy access to the Overflow Lot during the daily 9 a.m.-3 p.m. vehicle gate closing in the area.

 • Legal crosswalks will be added to many sites in the “circle” to accommodate increased pedestrian traffic.

 • A Night Line shuttle bus will provide transportation from 6 p.m.-midnight.

 • Because of Children’s of Mississippi expansion construction, Shuttle Bus Stops 18 and 19 must be eliminated. Individuals who use those stops may prefer to use the new Shuttle Bus Stop 29 instead.

 • A crosswalk is scheduled to be placed across North State Street at the “secondary” entrance to UMMC close to Parking Garage B by October. Until then, individuals who park in Lot A at the stadium are encouraged to only use the crosswalk at UMMC’s main entrance on North State Street.

 • Medical shuttle van riders will have assigned parking in Lot D at the stadium. The medical shuttle van will pick up and drop off riders from that lot only. Physical Facilities Parking Services will send a letter to authorized van riders informing them of the improvements.

 • The Blue Line will be active from 5:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

 • The Gold Line will be active from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

 • The Gold Line Plus, when activated, will be available from 8-10 a.m. and again from 3-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

 • The Red Line will be active from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

 • The Green Line will be active from 6-10 a.m. and again from 2:30-6:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

 • The Night Line will be active from 6 p.m.-midnight Mondays-Fridays.

 • The Medical Van will be active from 6-9 a.m. and again from 3:30-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and will now assist coverage of the Green Line from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays.

Details and diagrams of the new shuttle bus routes follow. For more information or to provide comments or suggestions, email parking@umc.edu.

Parking ‘Zones'

Different sections of the parking lot at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium have been assigned to specific shuttle bus routes “zones.” Those who need to access the health systems portion of campus should park in the blue zone of the Overflow Lot and Lot B. Those headed for the educational side of the campus should park in the gold section of Lot B. Those who need to reach the University Physicians Pavilion should park in the red section of the Overflow Lot and Lot B. Those headed for UMMC’s clinics on Lakeland Drive should park in the green section of Lot C and Lot E. Those who need to access the Medical Van should park in Lot D. Those who would like to walk to campus should park in the gray sections of Lot A and Lot B and use the crosswalk at UMMC’s main entrance on North State Street.

Blue Line

Those interested in taking the Blue Line Shuttle Buses from the stadium can board at Shuttle Stops 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11 and 12 and disembark at Shuttle Stops 13 (Parking Garage A/University Hospital), 20 (Wallace Conerly Hospital for Critical Care) and 29 (Winfred L. Wiser Hospital for Woman and Infants/Batson Children’s Hospital).

Gold Line

Those interested in taking the Gold Line Shuttle Buses from the stadium can board at Shuttle Stops 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and disembark at Shuttle Stops 13 (Parking Garage A/University Hospital), 24 (Office Annex/Translational Research Center), 25 (Apartment Buildings/Alumni House) and 15 (Norman C. Nelson Student Union/School of Health Related Professions).

Gold Line Plus

Those interested in taking the Gold Line Plus Shuttle Buses from the stadium can board at Shuttle Stops 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 22, 23 and 27 and disembark at Shuttle Stops 13 (Parking Garage A/University Hospital), 24 (Office Annex/Translational Research Center), 25 (Apartment Buildings/Alumni House) and 15 (Norman C. Nelson Student Union/School of Health Related Professions). Please note: Gold Line Plus Shuttle Buses are in service only when stadium parking is full.

Red Line

Those interested in taking the Red Line Shuttle Buses from the stadium can board at Shuttle Stops 5, 22, 27 and 30 and disembark at Shuttle Stops 13 (Parking Garage A/University Hospital), 24 (Office Annex/Translational Research Center), 25 (Apartment Buildings/Alumni House), 15 (Norman C. Nelson Student Union/School of Health Related Professions), 17 (Clinical Sciences Building) and 16 (Learning Resource Center/Computer Center). Please note: The Red Line travels in the reverse direction on campus compared to the other bus routes.

Green Line

Those interested in taking the Green Line Shuttle Buses from the stadium can board at Shuttle Stops 22, 27 and 30 and disembark at Shuttle Stops 26 and 28 at UMMC’s clinics on Lakeland Drive.

Medical Van

Those interested in taking the Medical Van from the stadium can board at Lot D and disembark at Shuttle Stops 13 (Parking Garage A/University Hospital), 24 (Office Annex/Translational Research Center), 25 (Apartment Buildings/Alumni House), 15 (Norman C. Nelson Student Union/School of Health Related Professions), 17 (Clinical Sciences Building), 16 (Learning Resource Center/Computer Center), 20 (Wallace Conerly Hospital for Critical Care) and 29 (Winfred L. Wiser Hospital for Woman and Infants/Batson Children’s Hospital).

Night Line

Those interested in taking the Night Line Shuttle Buses from 6 p.m.-midnight from the stadium can board at Shuttle Stops 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 22 and disembark at Shuttle Stops 13 (Parking Garage A/University Hospital), 24 (Office Annex/Translational Research Center), 25 (Apartment Buildings/Alumni House), 15 (Norman C. Nelson Student Union/School of Health Related Professions), 17 (Clinical Sciences Building), 16 (Learning Resource Center/Computer Center), 20 (Wallace Conerly Hospital for Critical Care) and 29 (Winfred L. Wiser Hospital for Woman and Infants/Batson Children’s Hospital). The Night Line is a combination of the daily Blue, Gold and Red Line routes.