The free Buckhead shuttle called “the buc” is eliminating lunch hour and Saturday service, expanding rush-hour service and simplifying routes, the Buckhead Area Transportation Management Association announced.
The changes take effect July 1.
The new routes and schedules are intended to increase service during peak hours, the weekday after and morning rush hours, BATMA said. One change is that a single primary route will connect MARTA rail stations and major employers along Peachtree, Piedmont and Lenox roads, BATMA said.
“The buc was launched nearly a decade ago, and it has provided a valuable service for Buckhead commuters, shoppers, visitors and residents,” said Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead and BATMA, which manages the buc. “But the time had come for us to take a look at the system and make sure that it was optimized to cost-effectively provide the best possible service for our core riders – our commuters.”
Planned changes include combining the shuttle’s blue, green and purple lines into a single route called the Piedmont-Lenox Shuttle. The shuttle will operate on weekday commute hours, running every 10 minutes between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Stops are being added at Piedmont Center.
The name of the buc’s red line will be changed to the Lenox Park Shuttle. No changes will be made to its route or schedule, BATMA said in a press release.
Schedule information will be available to smartphone users who scan the QR code on each shuttle’s stop sign.