If you have ever ridden the LSU Tiger Trails buses, you have probably thought to yourself at some point, “I could literally walk faster than this.”
Well, I wanted to put that to the test. I took four bus rides and timed how long it took to get from point A to point B. I then walked the same path and timed it to see which is faster: walking or busing.

TIGERLAND B (Journalism Building to PFT)

This bus ride was a great example of the unexpected delays LSU students complain about. I got on the bus expecting to have a short ride up the road to PFT. Instead, the second we got on, the driver got off to take their break.
No big deal. Everyone deserves a break, and no one should be overworked. The new driver will be here soon, I’m sure.
5 minutes later
Who hasn’t been five minutes late to work before? They’re only human after all.
10 minutes later
I am thinking about stealing the bus and driving it myself.
14 minutes later
Oh cool, the bus driver is here!
The bus took nearly 17 minutes to get to PFT. The walk back only took six and a half minutes. I could have doubled my time and still beaten the bus’s time. So yes, you can walk faster than the Tiger Trails bus if you catch it at the wrong time.

PURPLE UNION (Journalism building to UREC)

This bus was a great example of how the Tiger Trails system should work. The bus arrived right when the app said it would, did not stop for any breaks and got to the UREC as quick as possible.
The ride took a little over 12 minutes, while walking to the UREC took 15 minutes. That was with me walking at a fast pace, so when I got there, I was drenched in sweat because fall does not exist in Louisiana. I normally try to do my sweating inside the UREC, not outside of it.
I would definitely recommend taking the bus (and its air-conditioning) over the walk on this route.

PARK & GEAUX (Park & Geaux lot to Union)

This bus also changed drivers when I went to get on it. Unlike the first bus though, the driver change was a bit quicker and only took around five minutes.
The total drive took 13 minutes, and the walk took 14 minutes. If not for the driver change, the walk would have been nowhere close to being as fast as the bus.

GARDEN-DISTRICT (Nicholson Gateway to Journalism Building)

This bus has an interesting route. (Note: Interesting means stupid here). It picks up passengers on one side of Canal Hall and then loops around and picks up students on the other side of the same building. If there was just one stop, it could probably shave at least two or three minutes off its time.
This bus ride took a little over 7 minutes while the walk only took 6 minutes. The bus also arrived 15 minutes after it said it would on the TransLoc app. If you add the late time into the ride, it is not even close.
That means walking is faster than riding the bus about half of the time in my, admittedly small, sample size.
If the bus is your main source of transportation, you should plan for late busses, missing drivers and weird routes. Or just become an athlete and ride a scooter.