After an unsuccessful first attempt at a West campus shuttle service, Student Senate and the Student Activities Board approved another attempt at providing the shuttle.
The service will be provided starting Jan. 16, the first day of spring semester. The shuttle will start at the West campus and go directly to the Downtown campus and back to West. It will be a 27-passenger mini-coach bus that has room for standing and space for wheelchairs. In all, the funding will be $28,635 for the shuttle.
The West shuttle will operate on a similar schedule as the Truax shuttle. With the return of the West Shuttle, the Senate is striving to ease congestion off the Truax parking lot. The Senate would like to see the people who commute from the West side of Madison and nearby communities utilize the West shuttle and park in the West parking lot.
The West shuttle has been on the mind of Student Senate even after the way it ended last semester, according to Student Senate President Jennifer Johnson. However, it had to take a back seat temporarily because of the transportation referendum earlier this semester. Once that was approved, Senate went back to concentrating on the shuttle.
“I think it is a really great program,” Johnson said. “I’m really excited to see this option available again for students.”
Last semester, the West shuttle did not start at the beginning of the spring semester. It started in February. By that time, students had already determined their schedules and had a routine in place.
“It’s immensely important,” Johnson said. “Starting the shuttle in February was a mistake.”
Last year, the West shuttle was discontinued after a disappointing semester for the service after only five weeks. It ran from the week of Feb. 28 through the week of Apr. 8, with a week of not running due to spring break. It did not attract more than 89 riders in a week. With the number of riders it had, essentially it was costing approximately $28 per person to ride the shuttle. In that five-week span, the Truax shuttle never had less than 1,198 riders.
“It was the fault of the Student Senate for not promoting it,” Johnson said. “If something starts in February without promotion how are students supposed to know it exists.”
The Senate received feedback from students via email that they would use the shuttle for the West campus, according to Jackie Dahlke, Senate advisor. Just like last year, the Senate did receive that positive feedback for the shuttle.
To avoid history repeating itself, Senate has already started promoting the shuttle re-launch. Senate has had representatives at the West campus for several weeks seeking signatures for people committing to ride the shuttle. The Senate is striving to have 1,400 signatures by Thanksgiving. As of Nov. 3, they already had approximately 400 signatures.
The senate wants to see the shuttle provide a “safe, comfortable and reliable transportation option for students. The Senate has also set a personal goal, especially with the extra $5,000 allocated to Student Senate from the Student Activities Board to run the shuttle.
“Making wise use of student fees is something that I would like to see,” Johnson said.
This opportunity for the West shuttle may be the last opportunity for the shuttle to exist. If the West shuttle fails again, there may be no shuttle from West to Downtown in the foreseeable future. The chances of it coming back then are “slim-to-none,” according to Rose Clearmont, Vice President of Administration and Finance.
“I would hate to see it fail again,” Clearmont said. “Our goal is to not let it (fail again.)”