Last week, a new and improved cross-campus shuttle began operating. The two-bus system is the result of efforts by the Administration and students to revamp Wesleyan’s transportation systems.
The new bus system, called RIDE, operates two lines from 7:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. The red line circles the southern half of campus, while the blue line circles the north. Both lines have a fifteen-minute cycle and intersect at the Science Center.
“Overall it’s a much more efficient and expanded service,” said Manny Cunard, Director of Auxiliary Services. “We have 25 stops now, as opposed to 15 of the old shuttle service.”
In place of the old door-to-door escort service, there will also be a special services vehicle that caters to the needs of students who live off-campus or who have a physical disability.
The RIDE system is one part of a two-year long effort to reorganize transportation. According to Cunard, the new Office of Transportation Services will also cater to the needs of sports teams, clubs and academic departments that require transportation.
“Hopefully we’ll have vehicles and vans available for the use of student organizations,” Cunard said. “We’ll do driver safety training, and provide drivers when necessary.”
Jeremy Abrams ’05, current Vice President of the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA), co-founded the proposal two years ago with the help of the Community Outreach Committee.
“There were complaints from both students and administrators that the shuttle system was primarily about convenience and not safety,” Abrams said. “We also wanted to alleviate some responsibilities from Public Safety.”
-Students from the WSA worked closely with Cunard and other administrators to pass a proposal that would cover all the necessary changes in how transportation gets organized.
“We put together a proposal that consolidated all people-moving vehicles on campus, which included upward bound vehicles, the athletics department’s use of vans, the earth and environmental sciences and other academic departments’ use of vans for field trips, and the shuttle program,” Cunard said.
The WSA and the Office of Auxiliary Services also collaborated with the Office of Public Safety and academic departments to ensure that all transportation needs could be met under the new system.
“We’re really proud that we were able to work closely with the administration and have a positive impact,” Abrams said. “It’s only been in service for a week, but we’re hoping to receive some positive feedback from students.”
Marcello Curridori, Transportation Services Manager, said that his drivers were receiving positive feedback from students on the efficiency of the new bus system.
“Students say they really like the expanded coverage and the faster service,” Curridori said.
According to Cunard, the next step will be to add a late-night bus to downtown Middletown on the weekends.
“The downtown Middletown route would run Thursday to Saturday from ten or eleven at night until about one in the morning,” Cunard said. “Some people used to call the shuttle the drunk van, and, you can call it what you want but I think we have an obligation to fill.”
The downtown loop will not begin service until late this semester at the earliest due to financial concerns, Cunard said.
“We’re trying to make it happen on a very limited budget by taking existing budgets and consolidating them together,” Cunard said.
According to Maryann Wiggin, Director of Public Safety, door-to-door escorts will still be available through Public Safety from 4:00 a.m. until dawn, but these will primarily be walking escorts.
A map of both RIDE lines is available online at www.wesleyan.edu.
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