The University’s Campus Transit system implemented a schedule reduction of two and a half hours, which will park the buses at 12:30 a.m. rather than the typical end time of 3 a.m.
Campus Transit will continue to start service at 5:30 p.m., but the buses will end the night earlier than usual in order to better allocate resources and save students money this summer.
Brendan Copley, Student Government director of transportation, said the Transportation Services office proposed the idea to SG and the administration after observing a dramatic decline in ridership over the previous two summers.
“There are approximately 50 Campus Transit riders each night, and typically, only two of the eight Campus Transit buses are used during the summer nights,” said Assistant Director of Parking and Transportation Eric Reid.
Reid said the decreased ridership of the summer, particularly in the later hours of the night, gave an opportunity to limit spending.
Copley agreed and said the change was driven by the objective of conserving Transit resources.
Campus Transit seemed to follow the lead of the University’s Tiger Trails transit system, which has abbreviated or suspended bus services on certain holidays and the summer term for several years.
In fact, Tiger Trails, well known for its vital role in the safe delivery of University students to and from Tigerland, runs on an abbreviated summer schedule that finishes its routes at 6 p.m. In addition, Tiger Trails provides fewer buses per route during the summer than in fall or spring.
These summer transportation schedules will continue until Aug. 17, when the regular times and buses will go back into effect.