Most people on campus know the AU shuttle system is immensely imperfect. Buses regularly run late and arrive off-schedule. Students stand squeezed together on shuttles packed over capacity. When drivers cannot fit any more bodies on board, they leave disappointed students waiting on sidewalks.
The shuttle system is crying out for change, and any attempt at reform is therefore praiseworthy.
The news that AU Facilities Management plans to implement substantial shuttle reform beginning Friday is encouraging -- at least on the surface. Much of what will be implemented sounds excellent.
The impending transition to a cleaner-burning biodiesel for the buses keeps with AU's pledge to become a greener campus. The plan to reduce the time buses sit idly with their engines running is in keeping with good environmentalism, not to mention common sense.
However, Facilities Management also plans to implement three new shuttle routes this weekend and we worry that these could cause some problems. The color-coded red, white and blue routes were designed to make shuttle service more accessible and more reliable. But we have serious doubts.
If each route has different stops and unique operating hours, the simple process of catching a bus becomes complicated and confusing. Although in fairness, it does sound simpler than the proposed white line or "super loop."
That, quite frankly, sounds like a nightmare.
If, as proposed, it runs from the Metro to the law school to North side to South side and back, stopping several times in between these locations, travel will be tedious. It will take too long. Hordes of students may end up abandoning the bus and ambling across campus -- and crossing Massachusetts Avenue -- at ungodly hours. It could get bad. Student Government President Andy MacCracken rightly worries "about safety and pure convenience."
Most students depend on the AU shuttle service every day. They will benefit from the right kind of reform. What Facilities Management must determine is what makes things better and what makes things worse.
