The Bakersfield College GET bus stop will be relocated. A new terminal on the Panorama side of the campus is currently in the planning stages with construction slated to begin in fall 2010.

The reasoning behind the move is a combination of traffic flow issues and the wear and tear caused by the buses themselves.

The current location suffers from congestion issues caused by an overflow of buses combined with normal school related traffic. The current location causes traffic congestion as the number of buses typically stopped there impedes the flow of student and staff drivers.

“The current location also causes sinks in the road . caused by the weight of the buses on the warm streets,” said LaMont Schiers, executive director of maintenance at Bakersfield College. The new location will alleviate these issues.

The new terminal will allow up to eight buses, similar to the major terminals located in downtown Bakersfield and the Valley Plaza, to pick up and drop off students, whereas the current bus stop can support less than half that number of buses. The new terminal will also include its own restroom, emergency phones, and other facilities so non-students will not have to enter the campus.

For concerned parents leery toward the idea of a bus stop being located so close to the child care center, a privacy structure is currently being built around the walls of the center for the security and safety of the children.

However, the new bus stop does have a cost. The terminal itself is being paid for by GET, it is not being paid for by BC. While the terminal is being paid for by outside resources, it will however cause around 40 parking spots, on the Panorama side of the school, to become unavailable.

The project has been in the planning stages for several years, proposed by GET, and is currently in the final stages. The new terminal is being drafted but must be approved by the Division of State Architects before construction can begin.

After the new terminal is built the carousels and other GET related paraphernalia will be removed from the current location, however the other facilities, such as benches, will remain as they are.