Students board and exit a bus meant to transport students between north and south campus using only three stops. (Photo by Daniel Daw)
With the completion of the Transportation Spine this past semester, NAU Parking and Shuttle Services chose to eliminate the bus route along the northern portion of Knoles Dr. However, due to the enormous volume of students in need of faster transportation between north and south campus, the department revived public transportation along the road launched a new three-stop “Rapid Route” this week.
Erin Stam, the director of NAU Parking and Shuttle Services, said after re-evaluating the traffic in the fall the department decided to eliminate the stop in front of the Health and Learning Center, and added a stop in front of the Hotel and Restaurant Management building.
“Last year, when [the busses] would get to north campus they would circle the Wall Aquatic Field counterclockwise, and we had a really hard time making the left hand turn onto San Francisco,” Stam said. “It was really often impossible for the drivers to get to south campus in a timely manner because they kept getting stuck over there. Additionally, we really expected a much larger volume of riders from Health and Learning [Center], but we really didn’t have that. So, in order to expedite the service, we’re going to go clockwise around the Wall Aquatic Field.”
Stam explained they prefer to have a one-route system so the shuttles can be put to better use, but with the new route they now have two, not including the Mountain Link. This, she said, is a significant decrease from the past year.
“We really wanted to do a one-route system so that all of our resources can be focused on shuttling the highest volume of people in just one route,” Stam said. “Because, actually, a lot of people think we had two routes – we actually used to have six.”
The department chose to eliminate the Knoles route because the mass amount of pedestrian and personal vehicle traffic slowed the shuttles down. However, she said they see a clear demand for a route spanning from SBS past the Union.
“We’re sort of crossing our fingers because we are really concerned we’re going to have those same problems,” Stam said.
The new route consists of the following three stops: In front of the SBS building, the Union and the Frier geology building. Busses are expected to stop every four to six minutes along the Rapid Route.
“We have over 40,000 riders per week and we’re doing our darndest to keep up with the volume and we just want to provide the best service to students.”
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