LOVELAND, Colo. -- The two bus stops at Loveland’s Orchards Shopping Plaza help roughly 140,000 riders each year, but soon, Loveland’s vital transfer center system at the plaza will shut down.
The city received a notice from the shopping plaza owner asking the city to remove the two bus shelters off the property. In part, because of problems created by transients near the bus stops.
Problems people like Jeremy Robinson, who rides the bus every day to work, has seen firsthand.
“I have seen physical altercations take place, drug deals and some people sometimes just smoke meth and crack out here," said Robinson.
Loveland police said that over the last year they have seen an increase in the transient population and in a Facebook post, the Larimer County Sheriff said he noticed an uptick to transient crimes around Loveland over the last year.
He said some residents are now avoiding riding area-buses due to problems caused by criminal transients. But, not everyone thinks the removal of the bus shelters will help the problem -- and others think the owner shouldn’t get that much of a say.
"He is targeting a certain class of people that have as much right to a bus,” said bus rider Liz Green.
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