Albany

The Capital District Transportation Authority said it is boosting the frequency of service on a number of bus routes to meet growing demand.

Some of that has come from CDTA's Universal Access program that provides students and faculty of participating schools, and employees of participating businesses, with bus passes.

The schedule changes take effect Jan. 26.

Affected routes include:

Route #1 Central Avenue: Buses will run every 20 minutes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays to reduce overcrowding.

Route #12 Washington Avenue: Weekday frequencies will be increased to every 10 minutes during the afternoon and evening, while Saturday service from noon to 10 p.m. will increase to every 15 minutes, and Sunday frequency will increase to every 20 minutes for most of the day.

Route #224 Albany-Troy-Rensselaer: Weekday morning frequency will be increased to every 15 minutes, which afternoon weekday frequency will be increased to every 20 minutes. The increase comes as more students at Hudson Valley Community College, a recent participant in the Universal Access program, take the bus. CDTA carried nearly 200,000 HVCC riders in the first four months of the program.

Route #712 Harriman Campus/Patroon Creek: Nine round trips will be added to meet the need from multiple work start times and improve afternoon return trip service.

Route #719 Voorheesville/Altamont: Five additional trips will serve the Elm Avenue Park & Ride in Delmar.

Route #737 Corporate Woods/Airport: Peak frequency will increase to every 30 minutes. A new call center that added hundreds of jobs as it fields calls about the state's online health market boosted ridership, CDTA spokesman Jonathan Scherzer said.

Route #905 BusPlus, Albany-Schenectady: Saturday service will now operate until 12:45 a.m., with frequency increased to every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday night service will be extended to 12:15 a.m.

CDTA said its customer service representatives are available by calling 482-8822 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays and holidays.

eanderson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5323