As Cornell students returned to campus from winter break, they may have noticed some changes to the Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, better known as TCAT, bus services. Monday afternoon, WVBR News brought you the details of the new TCAT to keep our listeners moving throughout Tompkins County. Among the most noticeable changes are the renumbering and rerouting of various buses. TCAT says that they have updated 26 of the 34 routes in the system. Highlights of the service changes include TCAT route 13 up to the Ithaca Mall via New York State Route 13 and the addition of weekend service to the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport on the new TCAT route 72. Furthermore, buses will now serve West Hill and the Cayuga Medical Center later into the night, as late as 9:33 P.M. on weekdays, 7:33 P.M. on Saturdays and 6:33 P.M. on Sundays via route 14. The new services are also meant to make for more seamless travel throughout Tompkins County. In the redesign of the bus system, TCAT sought to cut down on transfers, creating six new “interlined” routes where riders can just stay on the bus even though it will change its route number while continuing to its final destination. For instance, the popular former Route 28 from East Hill and Cornell to the shopping along State Route 13 has been made into an interline route where riders can now take a route 32 or 72 bus to the Commons and stay on the bus as it becomes route 15 and continues straight to Wegman’s and other stores in the area along Route 13. Complete details of all the route changes can be found online at tcatbus.com. Additionally, TCAT buses and bus stops now carry bright yellow schedules for the new and/or updated routes. Riders should pick up these new schedules and dispose of their old white ones. Additionally, gone are the paper tickets used for so long on TCAT’s buses. In their place stands the new TCard, a reusable plastic card that stores money for rides on the TCAT system. Riders can reload these new cards online at tcatbus.com and check their balances online as well. Cornell students can still use their ID cards on the buses as before by tapping them to the receiver on the farebox. Bus fares remain free for Cornell freshmen at all times and for upperclassmen on nights and weekends. Since the old fareboxes that accepted the paper cards have been replaced, riders will need to redeem their paper cards for the new TCards. While the window to do so in person at the new TCAT station on Green Street, you can still mail in your paper tickets to the TCAT office at 737 Willow Avenue, Ithaca, NY 14850. Be sure to provide your name, address and phone number so that TCAT can contact you if there are any problems converting your old fare cards to the new TCard. especially if you are turning in several different types of passes. Alternatively, you can still redeem your paper tickets in person at the 737 Willow office.