After months of discussion concerning a new site for the bus station, the Intermodal Transportation Committee (ITC) has narrowed the choices to two locations.

Originally with 15 different options, the committee has chosen two potential sites, which will be presented to the Transportation Committee of the Centre Region Council of Governments (COG) in March, said George Pytel, Ferguson Township supervisor and committee member.

The first site is at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Sparks Street on property owned by Penn State.

The second is near the new baseball stadium at Hastings Road and Porter Road -- also university property.

The current bus station, located at 152 N. Atherton St., needs to be moved because the university wants to use the site to expand its west campus.

"The primary users are the students," Pytel said. "We want Penn State very much involved in how and where [the bus station] goes and also to pay part of the bill. We have to look out for the students."

Kathy Folks, State College manager of the Fullington Trailways and Greyhound Lines, said the most im-portant characteristic of a new bus depot is proximity to the student population.

"Students make up 98 percent of our business and most are repeat customers," she said.

The bus depot is a valuable resource to the community because it reduces the number of cars on campus, Folks added.

"Students don't want to walk a mile to get to the bus," Pytel said. "I'd prefer that the committee choose the closer site [at Sparks Street]. There would be easier access to that location."

The site by the baseball field could be difficult to access whenever there is a baseball or football game, he added.

Presently, no buses from Centre Area Transportation Authority run to that site, but if the location is chosen, bus routes could change, Pytel said.

Last year, there was an urgency to find a new location for the depot because the Applied Research Lab was to be constructed at the current bus location. However, Penn State decided to place the building near the Life Science Building, ITC chair Elizabeth Goreham said.

ITC has now turned the project over to the COG Transportation Committee because it needs broader oversight, Goreham said.

Currently, progress on moving the bus depot is slow because there is no rush to move it, she said.

"There is a desire to provide the long-term possibilities for a bus location that would incorporate parking, bikes, pedestrians, buses, taxis and others," Goreham added.