OU expands shuttle service

by Erica Ryan
FOR THE POST

To keep students out of the cold Winter Quarter, Ohio University is offering a newly expanded, free Bobcat Express shuttle service, which loops around campus at half-hour intervals.

The 15-passenger van, operating Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., now makes six stops on campus and three at The Ridges.

The stops include Peden Stadium, Ping Recreational Center, the Oasis, Baker Center, Grosvenor Hall and the Convocation Center parking lot on West Green. The shuttle also stops at the Kennedy Museum, Building 19 at The Ridges and an added stop at the Child Development Center, also at The Ridges.

The recent opening of the Child Development Center created a need for a stop to transport students, said Kim Wortman, interim director of Campus Services.

Altering the route was rather easy, he said.

The shuttle service is a pilot program and will be re-evaluated after Winter Quarter. "We've called in a consulting company and are putting together a feasibility study for a permanent campus shuttle service," Wortman said.

The study focuses on costs such as equipment fees and drivers' salaries, as well as student ridership and areas to service. Possible future routing would provide service from the main campus to The Ridges and to outlying parking areas and the HDL Center, Wortman said.

Funding is the biggest area of concern for the shuttle service, Wortman said. The service will be discontinued if permanent funding is not secured.

The possibility of the service ending worries OU junior Cindy Roeller, she said. A journalism major, Roeller has a public relations job at The Ridges, where she drives to every day.

"The shuttle service saves me because I can take it from The Ridges down to take my class," Roeller said, riding the shuttle to the Oasis stop.

Parking is a problem Uptown during the day. This makes it difficult for Roeller to drive to campus, she said.

Pauline Osei-Tutu, an OU graduate student, said transportation to and from The Ridges is also a main concern for her.

"It is very convenient, because I don't have a ride to take it to The Ridges for my internship," she said.

Although the shuttle is rarely filled, Bobcat Express driver and OU senior Stacey Watson said the largest demand for the shuttle is at about lunchtime.

The shuttle has an approximate ridership of 50 students per day, Wortman said.

Roeller offered a suggestion to increase student use of the shuttle. "I think more students would use it if a stop was added on Court Street," Roeller said.

The study team will ask for student and staff input before deciding whether to continue or expand the service at the beginning of Spring Quarter, Wortman said. The team might collaborate with the Student Senate to get ideas as well.