With the start of a new school year comes new students who haven’t learned their way around campus yet. TransLoc Rider, the app used to navigate Tiger Trails, can be one large obstacle for freshmen.
“I rarely have trouble with the bus app, but sometimes the time is off,” freshman construction management Ellie Ward said. “Today the app said it was 50 percent full, and it was packed. Like you couldn’t move. Everyone was sitting and everywhere to stand was taken up.”
Facility Services Executive Director of Facility and Property Oversight Tammy Millican said while her office has not received any app complaints yet this semester, being able to tell how packed a bus is can be difficult.
“We try to get it down to as much of an exact science as we can time-wise,” Millican said. “So much of it is dependent on the number of riders that day, what traffic is like, the weather conditions, so all of that can affect it, but our transit works a lot to improve the system and the reliability of the system. I think it’s improved over the years that we’ve had the service.” 
Some freshmen are confused at the mapping available on the app in general.
“I don’t ride the bus often,” mass communications freshman Anna Snellgrove said. “I downloaded the app and tried to figure it out, but I got confused. I couldn’t map anything out. I couldn’t figure out where the buses were going.”
Freshman biology major Riley Noble said she wishes the app was more clear about where it was going in relation to her classes.
“Maybe it’s because I’m not familiar with the area, but if there was a way to be like, ‘this is around these buildings,’ more clear of where each stop is and what it’s related to, that would help with using it,” Noble said.
Millican said it may just take a while for freshmen to get used to the new facilities around the University’s campus.
“I think there’s a learning curve,” Millican said. “I think when freshmen get here, they have to learn all the systems on campus, whether that be the way the transit system works, or the way dining works. It’s just a learning curve.”