Riders using Metro Area Transit's new express bus service from the Village Pointe Mall were surprised to learn Wednesday they could no longer park their cars near the bus stop.

We've been encouraged to share a ride whether it's carpooling or public transportation as a means of combating high gas prices, easing road congestion and reducing air pollution.

Trevor Stewart has put away the car keys for the bus. Each morning at 6, he's parked his car in the mall lot next to where the bus picks him up.

A maintenance worker delivered some surprising news on Wednesday. "That we're not allowed to park there, that it was private property," says Stewart. "The mall was closed and therefore we were not allowed to park there unless we were mall employees. I'd been parking there for the two weeks prior to that. No problems."

It didn't make sense to Stewart. Apparently up to now, commuters weren't supposed to park in the lot next to the Park and Ride, even though the only spaces around the Park and Ride bus stop belong to Village Pointe. The bus picks up passengers for the express ride at 6 a.m., 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.

"People just started parking at Village Pointe without authorization and we had not secured a lot,” says Metro Area Transit’s Curt Simon.

After Six On Your Side made a few calls, that has now changed. The Park and Ride drivers have been told they can't park in one Village Pointe lot anymore. Instead they need to shift focus to the lot about 75 yards away, the former Wild Oats building lot. It's just a temporary site until MAT can come up with something permanent.

Stewart loves the Park and Ride idea and this mix-up won't stop him from riding. He's says he’s saved more than $100 a month in gas money.

"I was very much married to my car. Now that I've been riding the bus, I cherish that half-an-hour or whatever I get on the morning ride and morning back, I get a half-hour to decompress."

MAT reports ridership along the express bus routes are up 16 percent.