The Observer, February 18, 2005
Volume XXXVII, Issue 18
Shuttle buses under scrutiny
Changes to the campus shuttle bus service are being planned after a survey conducted by the Undergraduate Student Government and the Residence Hall Association revealed unreliability as the most frequent student complaint.
The survey was given last semester by USG members to their constituents and by RHA representatives to their residents, USG vice president of Develop-ment Sonali Arora said. Vice president of Campus Services Richard Jamieson has not yet seen the survey but said that Case is planning changes to the Greenie service. The goal of the service is provide on-time service relative to the posted schedule.
One idea being considered is the usage of GPS on the buses. According to Jamieson, this would give students a better idea of how long a wait they will have as well as allow for easier evaluations of driver performance. GPS may be in use by next fall or even as early as the end of this spring semester.
In the survey, 37 percent of respondents said that they wait 15 minutes or more for a Greenie at various stops around campus. The buses are scheduled to arrive every 15 minutes on weekdays between 6:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
"In some cases, I think it's possible for the students to overestimate the time they wait," Arora said. "I think this happens simply because they get frustrated with waiting for so long for the Greenies to arrive."
Regardless of the actual time spent waiting, many said that the wait is too long.
"The Greenie is never on time – it's either early or late," Jason Kampmeyer said. "This means that you have to get to the stop early and wait if you don't want to run the risk of missing it."
Junior Hunter Ewen echoed Kampmeyer's opinion. "The only time it's really safe to take it to class is when you're leaving an hour or so early," Ewen said. "It is not uncommon to have to wait 40 or 45 minutes while one of the buses refuels. The morning Greenie is completely unreliable, and in the evenings, a trip from Northside to Coventry and back could be an all-evening expedition."
The wait does not discourage students from taking the bus, though: 79 percent of respondents said they ride the Greenie at least once a week.
In the survey, students said that what they like most about the Greenies are the friendly drivers. Not having to walk to class and getting to class quicker were the next two most liked aspects of the Greenie, followed by being able to avoid the weather.
The friendly drivers, the route knowledge of the drivers, and the cleanliness of the greenies all received high overall marks for student satisfaction. The schedule received the lowest rating from students.
Maxwell Teets had another problem with the Greenie. "For Monday-Wednesday-Friday morning classes the Greenie that goes through Northside always fills up," Teets said. "The buses are not large enough to fit everyone on sometimes. There have been times I waited and didn't get on the Greenie because it filled up."
One issue Sophomore Bryony DuPont had with the shuttle service is its new drivers. Standard Parking Corp. took over running the Greenies after University Circle Incorporated laid off all their shuttle drivers in January. Standard Parking rehired many of them, but there are some new drivers.
DuPont feels that at least one of the new drivers is not up to par with the old drivers. She said that one driver has gone right past the stop where she and other people wait during the morning.
Jamieson said he will be meeting with representative from USG to discuss the survey and work on the route for next year. Changes will have to be made for next year because of the movement of students into the new North Residential Village.
