Shuttle Busses Grapple with Construction, Record Enrollment

By JESSEN JURADO

On a chilly fall evening, dozens of shivering students lined up in front of the NAC building: scarves tied, winter coats buttoned to the top. When the City College shuttle bus pulled up at exactly 7:30 p.m., the loose line of students tightened in anticipation of its arrival.

In the next moment, however, sounds of confusion and dismay were heard from the students as the bus made a sudden left and disappeared behind the Robert J. Marshak Science Building.

Beginning October 19, both the shuttle bus and the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s bus, the M1, ceased traveling down Convent Avenue for at least six months. This is because of construction that will occur at Convent Avenue near the bridge on the campus’ south side. The M18 and shuttle will instead travel down Amsterdam Avenue, sharing part of their routes with the MTA’s M100 and M101.

When bitter cold and slippery sidewalks make the short but steep trek to the campus unpleasant and dangerous, shuttle buses play a vital role in helping students travel safely to school. But when construction forces shuttle detours, the job of transporting an ever-increasing number of students becomes harder.

At fifteen minutes past seven, the next shuttle bus arrived, and students piled on. Lite FM poured from the shuttle’s stereo, and the bus operator hit the accelerator. The bus, however, did not make the expected trip down Convent Avenue, but also made a left and disappeared behind the Science building. Again, groans emanated from the boarded students, and most got off at the next stop.

Some students started walking in the direction of the 145th Street train station, but many returned to the stop to wait for the next bus. On this night, the detoured bus was fairly crowded, but was it usually so? “Sometimes, but only in the mornings,” proffered one graduate student, who did not wish to give her name. “I mostly take evening classes, and the shuttle bus is usually empty.”

Taking the M18 to school instead of the shuttle is an option for students who don’t mind paying the $2 fare, especially now that the shuttle and bus use the same route. However, students still have to walk one block, or about three minutes at a brisk pace, to the bus stop and wait two extra minutes for the bus to make a right on Amsterdam Avenue, traffic allowing. Additionally, an official CCNY email bulletin advises students to “anticipate an extra five minutes of travel between the college and subway stations.”

According to statistics on CCNY’s own website, student enrollment is up, with twenty-five hundred more students at the college in 2007 as compared to a decade ago. Retention is at an all-time high, with more than half of the student body being comprised of returning freshmen. Every school day these students, as well as faculty and college employees, take advantage of the school’s shuttle bus service, which has been carting school-goers to and from the nearby subway stations since the fall of 2005.

The shuttle bus fleet consists of two large buses and two shuttle vans. Additionally, the school’s Public Safety office also employs two vans for transporting students during Saturdays and late nights when the shuttle bus services do not run. According to the college’s Office of Public Safety, shuttle bus service and their own vans do not run on Sundays or holidays, even if the college is open.

Shuttle bus operator Ron Willis claims that the larger buses are capable of carrying just over fifty students and the shuttle vans about twenty. This means that in the mornings, when the bus operates most frequently, the shuttle service is able to transport eight hundred and forty students to the campus per hour. Mr.Willis has been operating the shuttle bus since service began in 2005. “Coming back from school, most people get off at the dorms, ever since they were built in ’06,” he claims. Sure enough, on this evening’s ride the bus emptied in front of The Towers; the remaining students continued on to the 125th Street and Morningside Avenue stop for the A, C, B, and D trains.

The shuttle bus has recently added service to this train station, in addition to the 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue train station. Service from the 1 and 9 trains at Broadway and 135th Street was discontinued in 2006, but service to the station has since been restored as of last semester. Students traveling from that station must still hike up the steeper hill on 135th Street to reach the college, however.

According to Mr. Willis, the bus makes scheduled stops at both high schools on the campus, in addition to the dorms and in front of the NAC Building. Students cannot, however, request an unscheduled stop along the bus route, says Mr. Willis, citing safety concerns.

If the influx of new students, the dorms, and the construction along Convent Avenue is taxing the college’s shuttle bus service, however, some students haven’t noticed. “This is the first time I’ve taken this bus,” says Nasira Ramos, a junior. “I always see the bus but it’s only a few blocks (to the train station). I think most people just walk.”