The  "Lion Traxx" shuttle bus servive has seen an increase in use within the past year. Prakriti Adhikari/The Lion's Roar

The university “Lion Traxx” shuttle bus service provides transportation service free of cost to all university students and faculty. The riders are allowed to board after showing university identification. Recently, the numbers of passengers using the buses has increased, with an average of 1,850 people using the service per day. A large number of students used the service within the past year. 

“From Aug. 15, 2015 to Aug. 12, 2016, they had 44,052 people riding the shuttle,” said Director of Transportation Services Gary Prescott. “Currently, from Aug. 16 to now, we have 56,000 students use the shuttle.”

Many factor contribute to the increase in the number of people using the shuttles.

“One reason I think a larger number are utilizing the shuttles is because we have increased freshman enrollment,” said Prescott. “Another reason is we changed the stop order on our green route so that the student union was the first stop from the north campus. So, I think more people are using the shuttle because they can take either route to get to the middle of the campus in a timely manner.”

The transportation service has also increased the number of drivers for the shuttle services. 

“The third reason I would attribute to the increase in the ridership is, we have increased the number of drivers and the shuttle operating during peak hours,” said Prescott. “There are four shuttles that run on campus between 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.”

Prescott said the shuttles have been busy since the fall semester.

“Even though more spots have opened up, the upperclassmen spots really do not affect our ridership number much because a large majority of our ridership is freshman based, and also residents that have been living in Greek village,” said Prescott.

Prescott expressed happiness that students are making the maximum use of the shuttle services. “The buses have been very full and very well used, which is a good sign, I think,” said Prescott. “I think that is a service students enjoy and need on a daily basis.”

Students have also noticed how there has been increase in the number of students using the “Lion Traxx.”

Junior business management major Dante’ Jarmon discussed why he uses the buses.

“I live on north campus, so I use the shuttle, because it’s always better than walking,” said Jarmon.

Prescott gave his thoughts on how there can be improvements in the shuttle services.

“I would definitely like to see an increase in the number of drivers available to drive,” said Prescott. “Also looking to the point where we can replace some of our older shuttles. However, we are tied to a student fee based budget. So, in order to increase, we have to raise our student fee, which we are not really looking to do at this time.”

Prescott expressed his thankfulness to the drivers and encouraged the students to use the “Lion Traxx” shuttle tracker service to use the shuttles in an efficient manner.