Last month, the University announced that it will implement a late-night shuttle system for the fall 2015 semester in order to safely transport students to various locations on and off campus. Bucknell Student Government (BSG) had a crucial role in planning the shuttle system.

“BSG has been working on this initiative for a long time. We listened to the requests of the students and deemed the idea of a shuttle as necessary for safety and convenience measures. As this was something that would increase the accessibility of the downtown area and the perimeters of campus, we proposed the idea to the appropriate administrative officials and collaborated with them on the project,” BSG President Alex Rosen ’16 said. 

The shuttle will run from 9 p.m. to 11:55 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and from 9 p.m. to 1:55 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. During the shuttle’s hours of operation, it will maintain a one-hour loop with five-minute stops at each of the locations.

In order to make the shuttle more accessible to students, there will also be a mobile app created that uses GPS technology to show the routes and location of the shuttle. The app will be available for students to download through both myBucknell and the University website.

“As this is something with a lot of liability and financial responsibility involved, there was a lot of research that had to be conducted before anything could be accomplished. After all the logistics were worked out, Dean Lantz reached out to us recently and explained how our collaborative efforts resulted in the implementation of the Shuttle Policy for fall 2015,” Rosen said.

After the shuttle begins its service next fall, the Division of Student Affairs will conduct assessments of “ridership efficiency, satisfaction, student safety, and patterns of utilized buildings and services.” These assessments will help make the shuttle more efficient and better adapted to student needs.

“The junior class congress, led by President Connor McLaughlin, has been instrumental in advocating for this shuttle for the entirety of this year, and it is due to the persistence of BSG and the flexibility of the administration that we now have the privilege to use this shuttle service,” Rosen said.