A new service debuts this week to shuttle commuters between parking lots on the southwestern and western edges of Homewood and various points on campus.

Introduction of the free shuttle on Monday, May 1, coincides with the closure of the JH lot on the southwestern edge of campus to card access parkers. A new biomedical engineering building, Clark Hall, is being built on JH lot, which lies south of Merryman Hall and west of Garland Field.

The closure of JH lot diverts 142 cars to other gated lots, including P, at the south end of Garland Field; R, on Wyman Park Drive; G, the recently expanded 150-space lot directly across the street from R; and U, below San Martin Drive near the Space Telescope Science Institute.

"There are more than enough spaces available in our other gated lots within walking distance of the Clark Hall construction site to accommodate parkers that construction has displaced," said Ron Mullen, director of Homewood Security, whose office now oversees parking at Homewood. "The idea of the new Homewood campus parking shuttle is to make it as convenient as possible for staff to use those lots."

The shuttle runs a circuit route. Starting from U lot, it stops at R lot, Shriver Hall, Garland Hall, Gilman Hall near the Jenkins loading dock and Mudd Hall near C lot and the path to the Bloomberg Center. It then returns to U lot. Drivers will make other stops on request. The list of stops may be adjusted based on experience and rider feedback, Mullen said.

At first, the service will run from 7 a.m. to 10:40 p.m., Monday through Friday. During rush hours--7 to 9:40 a.m., and 4 to 6:30 p.m.--two vehicles will run about 10 minutes apart. One van will run about a 15-minute loop the rest of each day.

"This is a trial period to determine the level of need before locking the schedule in," Mullen said. "We do not anticipate major changes, but we expect there will be some variance with time of day and perhaps season."

Temporary signs designating the stops are being posted now, with permanent signs to be added later. Mullen said his office is looking into installing a shelter at the U lot stop.

A white, 15-passenger, wheelchair-accessible van with "Johns Hopkins" painted on the sides will provide the all-day service. The second vehicle for rush hours is, at least for now, a larger coach bus. Both are air-conditioned.

Two other changes in parking and driving on campus also go into effect with the start of Clark Hall construction:

Area E, the faculty parking area on the western edge of Garland Field, moves across Bowman Drive into what has been the J area of JH lot (i.e., the curved portion of the lot). There will be no loss of faculty spaces in this portion of campus.

Drivers will no longer be able to drive north from the Wyman Park Drive campus entrance near the western side of P lot. Drivers entering campus at this spot will only be able to enter P lot. Drivers who would ordinarily use this route to reach Merryman Hall and points north should enter the campus from Wyman Park Drive on the eastern side of P lot, then cross between Garland Hall and Levering Hall to Merryman and proceed north from there. Drivers wishing to enter the new area E may use the same route and turn south at Merryman. A map is available at www.jhu.edu/masterplan/summer/maps/summer05.html.