When Peter Pan bus lines announced the elimination of Monday through Thursday bus service from Middletown to New Haven, the University and Transportation services created a plan to fill the weekday gap for rides available to students. The plan offers transportation to New Haven, Meriden, and Hartford, and the University and Transportation Services should be praised for responding so quickly to student needs, especially with an issue as important as student transportation, which for many students is to and from home.
At $45 for a one-way trip to New Haven, however, the price of the service is only marginally cheaper than a taxi—and because students must call two to three days in advance, it is considerably less convenient.
Administrators counter that students can split the charge with up to three other students. While this is true, we must point out that it’s hard enough to find someone who needs to catch a train at the same time as you, let alone three people. And to be honest, the idea of locating three people at Wesleyan who can commit to a definite travel plan three days in advance seems pretty optimistic.
The Independent Projects Committee of the WSA is working on a plan for a weekly or semi-weekly service that would provide transportation to New Haven, Meriden, and Hartford at set times. Ostensibly, a shuttle that left from the same place on campus at the same time each week would considerably reduce costs in comparison with an out-call service. Furthermore, a scheduled weekly shuttle would eliminate much of the stress students incur looking for a dependable and affordable ride out of Middletown.
Plus—this is for you, Administration—a service of this kind would look great in admissions literature and sound even better to parents on campus tours with their would-be Wesleyanites.
While students may complain that the service should be free, the funding would likely come out of money designated for something else in the University budget, but it should be as affordable and efficient as possible.
While it’s a start, hopefully the University will be able to continually monitor and revise this service in response to the pattern of student use and WSA recommendations.
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