Several businesses met with representatives from the Muncie Indiana Transit System Monday to discuss the possibility of creating a new Late Loop that would go toward the north side of the city.
Mary Gaston, the MITS assistant general manager, said several merchants asked for a meeting to discuss the possibility of starting a second route.
"It is so early in the process it is hard to tell, but it is definitely a possibility," Gaston said.
Bygones Bar and Grill manager Jeff Phipps said the new Late Loop would be a separate route altogether that would go to the northern end of Muncie instead of downtown.
"We wouldn't be changing the other loop," Phipps said. "[We're] just creating a separate loop that would be designed the same way."
Bygones Bar and Grill, along with other businesses such as Texas Roadhouse, Cheeseburger in Paradise and CJ's Neighborhood Sports Bar, are all interested in creating the new loop and funding it for a six-week trial, Phipps said.
The six-week trial period would be funded by the merchants to see if passengers like the new loop, and then the $1 fee would be put into effect, Phipps said.
"This will give everyone more options," he said. "Everybody calls it Funcie, but there is nothing to do."
The businesses are looking to attract students and other passengers to the options in north Muncie, Phipps said.
"Some students come in halfway through college and never knew we existed," he said.
Gaston said the cost of the new loop would be the same as the other Late Loop, which is about $800, assuming the trolley would run the same number of vehicles and amount of days.
The next step to the process is to set a meeting with Ball State University Student Government Association to see if there is interest among students, Gaston said.
"We are going to rough out route ideas to propose to them," Gaston said.
SGA Treasurer Zac Davis said they were primarily focusing on getting enough riders to support the original Late Loop.
"We want it to self-sustain and another loop might add another element of confusion," Davis said. "We just don't know if it will be possible."
Davis said the number of riders for the original Late Loop has been down, but SGA is willing to help out with the new loop if there is sufficient student interest.
"I think it's a great idea if there is enough student interest," Davis said, "but right now it's not our top priority. The top is the Late Loop that we have."
The businesses who proposed the new Late Loop have the responsibility to get the word out to students and encourage student interest, Davis said.
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