c/o The Wesleyan Connection
In an email to students last week, Director of Public Safety Scott Rohde introduced the new changes to the University’s RIDE shuttle. The shuttle, which resumed operation on Friday, Aug. 30, will offer students at the University a safe and reliable transportation option seven days a week.
“The RIDE safety shuttle will return to a predetermined route with 15 convenient stops around campus with the goal of providing safe nighttime transportation on campus,” Rohde wrote in an all-campus email.
Calls to the RIDE shuttle phone number no longer forward students directly to RIDE drivers; rather than requesting specific pickup and drop-off locations, students can now get on the ride shuttle at predetermined points—as shown on the Wes Shuttle app and online—and get dropped off by shuttles at pre-scheduled stops on their route. Stops on the RIDE app route include Weshop, Freeman Athletic Center, 356 Washington St., 230 Washington St., 126 Pearl St., 250 Court St., Usdan University Center, McConaughey Circle, the Center for Film Studies/Center for the Arts, Malcolm X House, Fisk Hall, 45 Broad St., High/Low Rise, Lawn Ave. Crosswalk, and Exley Science Center.
Some RIDE users look forward to the new organizational changes to the RIDE service.
“I think the set route is really great because it means that wait times will be predictable and drivers will not be overwhelmed or harassed by students,” Jade Nowak ’27 said.
c/o RIDE App
Other campus transportation services are not changing their programming for the upcoming school year. The grocery shuttle, which stops at two supermarkets in Middletown—Aldi and Market 32 by Price Chopper—resumed operation on Sunday, Sept. 1, and will continue its usual operation on Sundays from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. XtraMile, the free River Valley Transit shuttle service, remains on-demand through its app. The shuttle stops both on-campus and at locations off-campus in central Middletown.
XtraMile debuted in 2022 as a pilot program modeled after previous successful XtraMile rideshare programs in the shoreline area of Connecticut, which included Old Saybrook, Centerbrook, Essex Village and portions of Westbrook. The Argus interviewed Sustainability Office Director Jen Kleindienst in September of the same year.
“There was interest in bringing [XtraMile] to Middletown where, the hope was, there’s a lot [of] more densely populated areas, there’s the Wesleyan campus with a bunch of people living in close quarters, and so it seemed like it might be a good opportunity for a microtransit option,” Kleindienst said.
Some students developed personal connections to the nightly RIDE drivers, riding with the same drivers regularly.
“I adore the RIDE,” Dinah Landsman ’27 said. “Bonnie and Frank [2023—2024 RIDE drivers] are so sweet and accommodating, and have made sure I am safe on numerous occasions. Last semester, when I had a late night WESU show, I looked forward to seeing Frank every week. The RIDE is the best.”
Students can download the Wes Shuttle app in any app store.
Anabel Goode can be reached at agoode@wesleyan.edu.
Miles Craven can be reached at mcraven@wesleyan.edu.
Spencer Landers can be reached at sklanders@wesleyan.edu.