New Lindenwood Stop Added to St. Charles Bus Route

The St. Charles Area Transportation bus system has had a stop at , but not very many students even realized it was there.

As of Monday, two bus routes—the green line and the orange line—will stop at different locations on campus. The change was made after Lindenwood’s student body representatives spoke with city officials about the possibility of an additional stop in an effort to bring more awareness to the transportation system on campus.

Mayor Sally Faith, members of the , James Evans, president of Lindenwood University, attended the short ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday afternoon. 

The St. Charles Area Transit system operates four bus routes providing transportation services to various locations within the city of St. Charles between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. A fifth commuter route takes residents to the North Hanley Metrolink Station in the morning and evening.

Evans said he's wondered over the years about all the opportunities for the city and University to work together.

"I want to praise the students for approaching the city and city staff and city council to make this happen," he said. "This is just another example of why LIndenwood feels blessed to be a part of the city."

Just a few students were at the ribbon cutting ceremony, all of them involved with student media.

Sophomore Melissa Spears, 20, said she hadn't heard about SCAT system before and didn't realize there was a bus stop on campus.

Spears owns her own car and is from the area. She said she thinks international students and those without cars would beneft most from the new stop.

"I know they have a hard time with transportation," she said. "I think if anybody, they'll be affected by it the most."

Senior Grace Pettit has a bike and car, so she said she likely won't use the new bus route often. She said she hopes it's successful and thinks it will be if it's marketed well. 

"There are so many kids who come from out of state who either don't want to drive their cars or don't have the money to," she said.

Pettit said the bus route would be most helpful if it went between Main Street and Lindenwood in the late evening hours when students are trying to go out.

Currently, the four city bus routes run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The commuter route runs until 6:46 p.m.

SCAT Bus Routes

The five bus lines offer students and community members access to places like , , and . These SCAT routes run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Cost is 50-cents per ride.

SCAT Commuter Route

The SCAT commuter route connects riders from St. Charles to Metro’s North Hanley Station and costs $1 for adults younger than 62 and 50 cents for adults older than 62. The schedule for this route runs between 5:20 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. in the morning and 1:38 p.m. and 6:46 p.m. in the evening.