Fears that the proposed charter bus service for University of Manitoba students will depreciate property values have been expressed by some River Heights residents.

Others claim the service will not be fair to regular passengers on nearby "public" bus routes.

The Metro Transit buses will be chartered, and if necessary subsidized, by the university in conjunction with the Students' Union.

Metro will only provide the buses and drivers. Student organizers say the $20 for a six-month bus pass will be cheaper than travelling on regular buses which which normally serve the area.

These special buses will pick up students with passes at regular bus stops. But not other persons at the stop.

And this is what's bothering some area bus travellers.

Hyman Schulman, 315 Cordova St. told a city public works committee meeting, students living in the Corydon-Cordova area can use existing services.

He said: "This route was chosen by the students but they didn't take a questionaire of the students living in the area to be serviced. They just pointed to an area where there are a lot of students.

"They should have a questionaire to see how many will use the new service," he added.

He also spoke of playgrounds and schools close to where the new service will pass, as well as the narrow roads the buses will travel.

Metro Councillor Bill Hutton — a spectator of the meeting and a resident of 373 Waverley St. — said last yar the corporation began a new university-Polo Park service with the students in mind.

When that particular service was announced, Cambridge St. residents strongly opposed the route because part of it went along their street. It was finally approved by Metro council.

Transit manager Roy Church said Metro has no jurisdiction over which roads a chartered bus shall use. "All our roads are 24 feet wide and as far as I know, charter services can use any of them," he said afterwards.

In a letter to the city, Metro said a number of streets in Winnipeg and Fort Garry — not under the jurisdiction of Metro — will be used for the service.

It added:

"However, as this is a charter service, the U of M will discuss this matter with the city and Fort Garry." No word has yet been received by the city, from the university.

Metro council has approved the service, saying it is a "worthwhile experiment" and if successful, should be expanded to other areas in the future.

Mr. Church said in an interview the purpose of the charter service is:

• To penetrate existing areas of student population (where they are living) and to open up new areas.
• To remove the continuing pressures of parking at the U's Fort Garry campus.
• To provide a service geared "exclusively" for the student requirement.

On a motion from Alderman Len Claydon the committee agreed to ask council for an independent study of bus routes.

"If we don't do something like this, all we'll have is continuing friction between Metro and the city," he said.

Other motions approved were from Alderman Ernest Brotman, telling Metro the committee does not favor the service using parts of Cordova and Waverley streets and Fleet Ave., and Alderman Magnus Eliason, asking Metro not to sign any agreement with the students, without first consulting the city.

Before leaving, the 40-member delegation left a petition with more than 60 names to it. A separate one with some 50 names, was left by another delegation also opposed to the service.