Bellair Charters is partnering with Western Student Transportation to serve the Western campus directly by having a pickup location on campus. The Airporter Shuttle will stop on campus outside of the Performing Arts Center on High Street, 10 times a day from Nov. 23, 2015 to Jan. 6, 2016 and March 9 to 19 2016. The charter will do 10 round trips a day to Sea-Tac Airport, and three round trips a day to downtown Seattle. Kay McMurren, the program support supervisor for student transportation, said this service is a more convenient pickup location for students. “The previous boarding location was on Iowa Street, and that location is no longer on a bus stop and is further from campus, so they have an interest is providing convenient service for students,” McMurren said. The Airporter Shuttle will pick students up outside the Performing Arts Center on High Street in a van or minibus. Then the van will take students to the Bellair Charters office on Iowa Street, and students will be able to catch the shuttle going south. Adrienne Booth, the marketing manager for Bellair, said it wanted to achieve convenience for students. “We have a more convenient service for CWU students, and we wanted to mirror that for our students in Bellingham,” Booth said. “We feel like we are really missing out on the student population by not offering this service.” Bellair is trying to get the word out as much as possible by putting up posters in residence halls and advertising with KUGS, Booth said. Senior Peter Munger has used the Bellair Charter before and thinks the new route is convenient. “I think the new pickup location is beneficial to Western in general. Many students live on campus so they can access the shuttle better,” Munger said. This shuttle service will do a trial period for the holidays, and if it is successful, the Airport Shuttle will become a permanent service year round for Western students, Booth said.
