To see a video on the night bus system’s new route, click here.
Amy Jones and Luke Mumphrey left their food science meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m., walked to the Tigerland bus stop and sat down to wait patiently for a bus that would never show.With the new system implemented this year, the night buses load only in front of the University Student Recreation Complex.Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation, said students should use the Campus Transit service to get to the UREC.The night bus system runs from 5:30 p.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday, and until 3 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.Mumphrey, food science graduate student, and Jones, food science senior, said they were unaware of the changes.”I called Campus Transit to see if she could tell me the bus schedule, but she said she didn’t know,” Jones said. “We need to get home.”After waiting for more than 15 minutes, Jones and Mumphrey called a friend for a ride.Graham said no complaints about the new night bus system have been reported to his office. Graham said the night bus system was changed to increase safety and efficiency.”We eliminated a lot of the extraneous driving around the interior of campus, so they arrive [to the UREC] on time and more frequently,” Graham said.Graham said the new system is more tailored to student demand.”Now they’re designed to just go off campus, which is what students typically used them for,” Graham said. “We have Campus Transit for any door-to-door on-campus needs.”Graham said the average response time to a call for Campus Transit is five to 10 minutes.Parking officials chose the UREC because it’s a high pedestrian traffic area at night, Graham said.Maj. Lawrence Rabalais, LSU Police Department spokesman, said the UREC is a safe area for students to wait for the night bus.”There’s adequate lighting there,” Rabalais said. “Additionally, we have a unit that makes numerous passes there at night from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.”Rabalais said the new route is safer than having students wait at multiple bus stops around campus.”If we have people in a concentrated area, we are able to focus our resources on them,” Rabalais said.Sharma Thankachan, computer science doctoral student, said he feels safe waiting for the bus in front of the UREC.”There is enough light, and there are lots of people walking around,” Thankachan said.Thankachan said he rides Campus Transit from Coates Hall to the UREC to catch the bus.”Transit will arrive sometimes within two minutes of calling,” he said.Thankachan said he typically waits 15 minutes for the night bus to arrive at the UREC, but had been waiting more than 25 minutes when The Daily Reveille interviewed him Thursday night.—-Contact Katie Kennedy at [email protected]