The Student Union is spearheading efforts to start a weekend shuttle service to a green line stop or Brookline, Senator for the Class of 2008 Michael Goldman said.The effort comes after a Union-sponsored online survey showed significant support for a shuttle.

While discussions are still ongoing between the Union and the Department of Public Safety, Goldman said the shuttle could serve either the Brookline T-Stop or the closer Riverside T-Stop, both on the Green Line. The Green Line is not easily accessible with the current Boston shuttle service, he said.

Brookline, 11 miles from Brandeis, is popular because it hosts restaurants such as the kosher Ta'am China-and its shopping, said Goldman, who is leading the initiative. He said the shuttle would provide easier access to "non-artsy" movie theaters, a mall at Chestnut Hill and sports events at Boston College and Boston University.

Of the 645 students who responded to the Union's online survey, 253 said they would take the Green Line Shuttle every week if it were introduced, while 230 said they would use it "every other week." Brookline was the most popular Green-Line destination on the survey, with nearly 50 percent of the vote, placing it ahead of Newton and Chestnut Hill.

Ed Callahan, the director of Public Safety, said a limited budget was a major obstacle to introducing a new shuttle.

"The shuttle has to be something feasible for students to give money to," he said. "If we can find the funding, we'll try and take it off the ground."

Callahan said he estimated the proposed bus would cost $600 per night for an eight-hour run. But he said he is interested in conducting a low-frequency test run, perhaps on one Saturday a month, in order to gauge its popularity.

Ultimately, the frequency of any new shuttle would be dictated by its initial demand, Goldman said, adding that ideally it would run every Saturday night, but that lower demand could result in biweekly service.

The Brandeis Orthodox Organization has lobbied both the Union and Public Safety for a shuttle service to Brookline, according to BOO President Danny Glass '07.

The group's activity has fostered a general perception that a new service would disproportionately serve the observant Jewish community, Goldman said. But both he and Glass said that view is false.

"Just because the people who want to go to the kosher restaurants are from one demographic group" does not mean they should be ignored, Glass said, adding that there are no kosher restaurants in Waltham, and Kosher options on campus are limited.

"For Kosher people, getting to kosher restaurants on Saturday night is not just about going out for a good time-it is about eating . Sherman's dinner on Saturday is egg salad, salad, bread and fruit."

Goldman said the survey showed more students would prefer to use the shuttle to go to other restaurants, movie theaters and shopping centers than Kosher restaurants.