Depending on the time of day, U students may not be able to get a shuttle ride because of overcrowding.
The shuttles on campus fill up during peak times and on peak routes, and the problem may get worse.
“This [overcrowding] has been a problem ever since Heritage Commons opened. It has been a problem for four to five years,” said Ken Searles, manager of the shuttles at Commuter Services.
When the TRAX extension line opens on Sept. 29, U administrators have asked Commuter Services to stop two of the 20 shuttles that run on campus.
Commuter Services hopes that TRAX will pick up the extra passengers and the need for shuttles will go down.
They will re-evaluate the need for shuttles once the TRAX line is running, Searles said.
The red and blue routes are the busiest, and they tend to fill up and run behind schedule in the mornings and in the afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m.
One problem posed by the overcrowding of the shuttles is that when they get full, students stand in the front of the bus in the stairwell, obstructing the shuttle driver’s view and placing the safety of the students in jeopardy.
“It’s against federal law [to operate the bus while there are people standing in the stairwell]-they could be ticketed,” Searles said.
It’s up to the driver to enforce this rule, but many times they do not.
The problem with the shuttles is the funding cuts, according to Searles. Commuter Services doesn’t have the money to increase the shuttle fleet.
David Baker has been driving the shuttles at the U for five years, and he said that with his experience, the shuttles are “absolutely” crowded, especially during peak hours.