The biggest problem with the revised shuttle system is the Super Loop route, AU Student Government President Andrew MacCracken said in a town hall meeting Tuesday.
AU administration added a new shuttle route in August called the Super Loop, which goes into effect after 8 p.m. every evening. The loop begins at the Tenleytown-AU Metro station, then continues to the Katzen Arts Center and the Washington College of Law before ending at the main campus.
Student complaints about the change prompted the AUSG to hold a meeting so the AU community could voice their opinions.
| ETHAN KLAPPER / THE EAGLE |
MacCracken discussed students’ frustrations with the Super Loop route.
“It’s clear that the shuttle primarily needs to serve students on main campus, because during the times that the Super Loop is in effect, the only people really using it are the ones that rely on the service because they live on campus,” he said.
Mark Feist, assistant director of Facilities Management, gave a presentation outlining new ideas to improve the shuttle system. He proposed incorporating a GPS system to track shuttles and establishing an automated passenger count system.
AU is also starting a Mystery Ridership Program, which will gather shuttle information through student evaluations, Feist said.
“Every step of the way, we want to be able to communicate clearly what the changes are, what the schedules are; and not making changes on the fly so you don’t know what those schedules and changes are,” he said.
He then opened a question and answer session where many students described what their primary concerns were with the Super Loop route.
Bianca Jones, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she thought it is unreasonable to drop law school students off before those on main campus, because there are fewer of them traveling at night.
“Every weekend when the Metro is closing and you know that the shuttle is going to stop running soon, from 2:45 to 3 a.m., the majority of the people on the bus end up having to get off at Katzen,” she said. “They’re all walking to the same place, when only three to five people are going to the law school. When you look at the numbers, it makes more sense to make those people [who are going to the law school] wait.”
Several students suggested reversing the route of the Super Loop and having it go to main campus before the law school and the Metro.
This would make it more difficult for those trying to leave campus, Feist said.
“Anyone traveling to Metro would be equally inconvenienced from the South side because they would have to walk to Katzen to make that bus.”
With limited resources, budget and President Kerwin’s new policy to make AU more environmentally friendly, it is not easy to make changes, Feist said.
MacCracken said he believes that necessary changes will be made to improve the service, but it will take some time.
“It just will take a little while, as all things take at AU,” he said. “It’s just going to be a bit of a slow process to make the changes, but I’ll definitely be working with [shuttle operations] closely to make sure that the changes the students need will be implemented.”
A second town hall meeting about the shuttle system will be held tonight at 7 p.m. in MGC 245.
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9 Comments
S
Oct 8 at 1:18 AM
The new shuttle routes are complete BS. People still have to wait a long time to get on a bus and still get left behind because shuttles are full. The only difference is that now students on southside have to walk farther at night and on the weekends. Thanks for making things even less efficient, AU.
Jake Borovitz
Oct 8 at 5:34 AM
Unspoken in this article is the traffic behavior of the buses/drivers. They idle illegally in front of the law school, blocking traffic and causing a lethal hazard for those daring to walk in front. Often, abrupt stops could lead to potential injuries. Finally, there are a lot of near-collisions, but, as they say, this is DC, and it takes two cars to tango.
jake borobitz
Oct 8 at 5:35 AM
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SH
Oct 8 at 7:52 AM
To me, the biggest problem was never the routes, but the frequency of shuttle service. If you go out into DC on a weekend and get back to Tenley at 2am, you usually have the choice to either walk back to campus or wait for the shuttle. Considering it always seemed as if there was only one shuttle running late at night, unless you happened to catch the shuttle just as you got to the stop, more often than not it was quicker to walk.
To me, that is what was unacceptable and defeats the purpose of running the shuttles so late, especially during the winter months when it’s cold, windy, and raw. I don’t see how the Super Loop helps this problem. Rather it only seems to exacerbate the problem because the loop is larger than it was in the past.
Matt
Oct 8 at 8:53 AM
From the law student perspective, I dont think you would find anyone opposed to reversing the order of the Super loop. We would rather have the shuttle go to the Main Campus first. After 8pm at night, we just want to go home, not spend 20 minutes on the main campus.
It would be a problem, however, if the drivers continue to fill the buses over capacity before heading to the law school.
Johnny
Oct 8 at 11:14 AM
Problems with the AU shuttle should be the least of our problems. Could we all be thankful that we have a shuttle service in the first place?
Alex
Oct 8 at 3:59 PM
First off Johnny - thankful we have a shuttle service? I’m thankful I have food to eat, shelter and safety. A shuttle is something I pay for when I come to school here.
Just one comment - To all the people who fought so the shuttle drivers could unionize…Thank you so much for crappy shuttle service! Ever occur to you that people want unions so they don’t have to work as hard? Not that driving a bus is particularly difficult.
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