Walk or take the Stagbus?
For some students, it might be a no-brainer.
For Dolan Hall residents however, the decision is not as simple-especially in the middle of winter.
Few can hardly get a direct ride from the Barone Campus Center to the upper end of campus from 7 to 9 at night, when the shuttle continues to loop all the way to the Dolan School of Business on the lower end of campus.
Many choose to brave the elements and walk back rather than wait or ride the shuttle, which would be like going south to go north.
The problem? On its visits to the DSB, the shuttle rarely picks anyone up at the front traffic circle.
Meanwhile, the two-hour time frame from 7 to 9 pm is the peak dinner and activities rush for many students.
Taylor Rooke, a freshman at Dolan Hall, has been inconvenienced on multiple occasions.
“Half the times we get down there, there’s no one there,” he said. “At that time, I just don’t feel it’s necessary.”
Stephanie Stadig `10 of Dolan Hall agrees, citing that over the past month, there has been no one at DSB “90 percent of the time.”
“Lots of people have commented on it. Most people are angry they had to waste their time going there,” she added.
Throughout the day, the shuttle makes a big figure eight around campus. It starts at Dolan Hall and ends at the DSB on the lower part of campus. The loop does not pose a problem from 7:30 am to 7 pm, when there is a steady flow of people at each checkpoint.
From 7 to 9 at night however, business turbos are underway and the demand for the lower end of campus comes to an almost screeching halt.
One female night shuttle driver has witnessed the change for some time now.
Of a crowd of 25 kids on the shuttle at 7:30 pm, she has seen 10 to 15 leave and choose to walk to Dolan Hall from the BCC. Meanwhile, the attendance at the DSB trickles to zero, she said.
The same shuttle driver has no problem dropping students off at the DSB for events or speakers that run anytime in between 7 and 9 pm on select evenings, since everyone informs her earlier in the day.
Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs James Fitzpatrick is leery of using the lower shuttle loop on an on-demand basis.
“It wasn’t designed to be a taxi service,” said Fitzpatrick.
“I think buy and large, it’s worked pretty well,” he added, citing that in one hour, the shuttle can make four complete loops.
Nonetheless, Fitzpatrick is open to concerns or suggestions voiced by the Student Senate and admits that the current system for gathering shuttle data is hard to gauge.
Each month, drivers give Fitzpatrick a collection of daily ridership logs, which list the amount of people on the shuttle every 15 minutes.
The logs do not list the passengers’ destinations, however.
Nikki Calabrese, a junior living at Dolan Hall, already has a suggestion for the shuttle dilemma.
“[F]or every two times they come here, [they could] go there or something because they only need to go there when classes are getting out,” said Calabrese.
Come the spring semester, Mr. Fitzpatrick will consider implementing a new form that allows drivers to designate how many students get off at the DSB and Dolan Hall on any given run.
Such a compromise would definitely increase everyone’s understanding of the situation and would be in line with Fitzpatrick’s goal of providing “a good transit system that’s reliable and convenient.”
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