
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991                   TAG: 9102120088
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROANOKE TO START WORKER SHUTTLES

Downtown Roanoke Inc. said Monday it will begin shuttle-bus service this spring to help workers who've found their parking spaces displaced by construction projects.

Two shuttles would bring employees of downtown Roanoke companies to their offices from the Roanoke Civic Center parking lot. The service will start April 1 if at least 360 riders sign for passes costing $17 monthly. The program will cost $6,100 a month.

Approximately 500 downtown parking spaces are being displaced from six to 18 months by the construction of Dominion Tower and its parking ramp, the Norfolk Southern building, the Church Avenue parking garage and expansions at First Baptist Church and the American Red Cross.

William Hubard, Downtown Roanoke president, said the shuttles would operate at least until the two new parking garages are completed. The Dominion Tower garage, with 800 spaces, is to be finished by November and the Church Avenue garage is scheduled to open by April or May 1992.

Hubard told a news conference that a number of businesses have expressed interest in the parking program for their employees.

Kim Kimbrough, executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc., said 126 riders, about one-third of the minimum required, have said they will participate. If the number of riders falls below the 360 minimum needed to make the service financially viable, Hubard said, the service would halt.

The plan is for shuttle buses to run weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6:30 p.m. There would be limited service on Saturdays.

Downtown Roanoke will lease two buses from Valley Metro. They will be painted purple and white.

The buses would make five stops every 10 minutes or so: on Franklin Road in front of Crestar Plaza, on Jefferson Street in front of Dominion Bank, on Church Avenue in front of Roanoke City Hall, on Campbell Avenue at the City Market and at the south parking area of the Civic Center.

The buses will be operated by drivers trained, licensed and insured by Valley Metro. Riders would not be charged for parking at the Civic Center.

The parking freed by downtown employees will make space for tourists and shoppers, Hubard said.

by CNB