Campus Transit is more annoying than it is helpful. Students are disappointed in the transportation system because it fails to adequately meet their needs.
The University must improve Campus Transit, as some students and faculty depend heavily on the transportation system to bring them around the large campus.
Campus Transit is the University’s most popular mode of transportation around campus. The buses run seven days a week from 5 p.m. to midnight. However, Campus Transit needs to run before 5 p.m. because most students take the majority of their classes before the buses begin running. This forces students to take a hike to a class far away from their previous one, which can be exhausting.
Baton Rouge’s weather can be extremely hot, and students have to face the heat while walking long distances. This can persuade some students to skip class. Sometimes, students forget their umbrellas when it rains, forcing them to walk in the rain to get to a place on campus. They could avoid getting soaked during one of Louisiana’s infamous downpours if Campus Transit picked them up.
Students do use other modes of transportation like bikes, scooters and skateboards, but not every student can afford to buy one of these items. Biking on campus can be a hassle because students must stay alert to make sure they don’t hit pedestrians or aren’t hit by a car. Students who ride bikes must also spend money on a bike tag to avoid their bike getting impounded. Also, bikers are at risk of getting their bikes stolen.
The University encourages students and faculty to use Campus Transit because it’s more eco-friendly, as one bus holds a large capacity of people. This is beneficial to the environment because people who use Campus Transit instead of their cars prevent a greater concentration of air pollutants. Thus, the air quality is improved by using the transportation system. The University’s intention is great, but what’s the point of depending on something so unreliable?
Campus Transit has two ways to request a ride. Students and faculty can use the TransLoc Rider app or call the number listed on the University’s parking and transportation website. The app allows people to get rides by clicking the OnDemand icon in the bottom left corner of the University’s map when it’s blue. OnDemand is out of service when in the icon is gray. Campus Transit urges students and faculty to request a ride via phone if this happens.
The app seems helpful, but it has many issues. Students, particularly international students, on-campus residents or freshmen use the app frequently to avoid walking around campus at night. However, some buses never pick up students, even though the app assures a bus is en route. This causes students to call Campus Transit to request a ride. Unfortunately, sometimes no one ever picks up the phone.
Chemical engineering sophomore Tashfia Shehzabin usually relies on Campus Transit to bring her places when it gets dark outside and is fed up with the transportation system’s inconsistency.
Shehzabin called Campus Transit recently to bring her to the UREC from the engineering building. She waited at least 20 minutes for the bus to arrive, but it never came. She called and no one answered. There was still some light outside, so she decided to walk instead. Shehzabin still felt it was unsafe.
I’m not saying Campus Transit is useless for people to use because of its issues, but the University should make some changes to the transportation system for the sake of its students.
Jasmine Edmonson is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from Denham Springs, Louisiana.
