Photo by: Lin Cong

This year, the DU Shuttle will no longer take calls to pick up passengers and will follow a fixed route with designated stops.

After discussion with administration and student government, the Department of Transportation Services decided to scale back the shuttle to run only on evenings to provide safety and lower the operational cost.

Historically low numbers of riders prior to 6 p.m. made this change easy to justify.

“It didn’t make sense running empty shuttles all day,” said Buddy Knox, manager of Parking Services. “[The] DU Shuttle we all know and love [is] no longer about convenience, [but] all about safety.” 

The shuttle now runs from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. with 15 minutes between the 30-minute route.

The DU Shuttle was started in 1999 to provide transportation for students, faculty and staff.

It started off as a DU Safe Ride but evolved over time to an all day shuttle of convenience.

Two years ago, the shuttle was an on-demand service that worked much like a taxi and took calls from students who wanted to be picked up and dropped off from different areas around the campus.

Knox said the problem with this system was that there was no dispatch and students were calling drivers directly from their cell phones. This created issues of drivers on the phone.

Last year, the shuttle began to follow a fixed route, just like a city bus.

Sophomore Nikki Chen was unaware of the changes. Chen used to live in Centennial Halls and took advantage of the shuttle on winter mornings to take her to Olin Hall.

“It’s not convenient,” said Nikki Chen, sophomore. “I liked how before you can call and they come to where you are and now you have to go to certain stops.”

Chen lives in Nagel Hall this year and says she probably will not use the shuttle anymore, partially because she lives closer to her classes.

According to Knox, shuttle stops will have an illuminated “S” so they are easy to see at night and all stops are close to a blue emergency phone.

The letters are on order,  already paid for and will hopefully to arrive within the next week.

Installation will be a one-day project that will require the aid of a campus electrician.

For students with physical mobility issues, the accommodation transportation van with wheel chair lift runs from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Students can schedule in advance to be picked up by this van.

For more information visit www.du.edu/parking or call 303-871-2369.