On Sept. 1, 2012, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville implemented a city and campus shuttle service for students and staff.
After issuing a transportation survey last fall, the bus service was created as a result of positive student responses to the idea of a shuttle. It has been 10 weeks since school began, and it took this writer 10 weeks to use the shuttle service now provided on campus.
Although many students do not realize it, the use of the shuttle on a daily basis is free with a valid student ID. Faculty, staff and community members can also ride the bus for a fee of $1 per ride or a $30 pass for the 2012-2013 academic year. Passes can be purchased at the information desk of the Markee Pioneer Student Center.
Senior mechanical engineering student Drew Koehler patrons the shuttle every weekday to go to his classes. He gets on the bus across the street from the Mining Museum on Main Street and gets off at the Pine Loop next to Ullsvik Hall.
“It stops one block from my house; the times work out, and it is much faster than walking,” Koehler said. “I used to drive, but passes for parking cost too much.”
While riding the shuttle, a handful of students were picked up, but according to the driver, Dean Vogt, most mornings the shuttle is full after the pick up on Fourth Street and Main Street.
“There isn’t an hour during the day I don’t have a pick-up or a drop-off,” Vogt said. “Everyone is really friendly and there are a lot of regulars.”
The bus stops at Rountree Commons for a 15-minute break at the top of the hour. While sitting in the residence hall, there was a sizeable amount of students who were walking to class instead of riding the shuttle because it leaves the Commons after their classes start.
“I know about the shuttle, but I have never taken it,” Reese Prueitt, freshman agriculture business major and Rountree Commons resident, said. “If it left at (8):45, I would definitely take it.”
With this scheduled break, it is impossible for students who live in Rountree to use the shuttle right before their classes. For example, if a student in Rountree had a class at 8 a.m., they would be required to either get on the shuttle at 7:00 a.m. or 7:30 a.m. The bus is there at 7:45 a.m.; if it could depart at that time, students from Rountree wouldn’t be required to get on so early.
There are currently two different routes the busses run on. The campus loop focuses on areas with many students around campus. During the day, the bus runs from 7 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 7:00 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Fridays.
The second route is the shopping loop that runs around campus, downtown Platteville and Business 151, running on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday evenings from 5:00 p.m. – midnight, Saturday 11:00 a.m. – midnight and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Picking up students in the Circle, Rountree and other locations and bringing them to places such as K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Millennium Cinema and Main Street allows access to the bigger shops in Platteville.
Football and special days, such as Election Day, schedules are also created. For a detailed look at the respective schedules, visit uwplatt.edu/transportation/shuttle-bus-service.