Intercampus Communication

To:              Dr. Vincent Boudreau                                           C:        C. Kamga

From:          Tohidul Islam, Sophomore                                              P. Eickemeyer

Subject:      Shuttle bus services at City College                               V. Ponnuraj

Date:          February 19, 2019

 

The purpose of this memo is to address the various issues with the current shuttle bus system at the City College of New York. Several solutions to the existing problems will be suggested which all offer reasonable ways to go about correcting the issue.

 

Summary

The use of the half-sized shuttle bus at peak hours is an inconvenience for many who wait up to twenty minutes for the bus only to have it fill up before they can get on. This is especially a problem when there are disabled students who wait for the bus but are cut off by others rushing ahead. Furthermore, the shuttle system at City College fails to accommodate those who require the use of the “1” train. This can be easily remedied by restricting the use of the half-sized bus to certain times and by having a third bus route to the nearest 1-train station. I would appreciate a meeting to discuss the issue and its solutions in further detail.

 

Discussion

The shuttle bus system at City College currently operates for twenty-four hours on all days except holidays where they only run from 10:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. The system utilizes two types of busses: a full-sized school bus and a shorter bus roughly have the size of the larger one; these two buses loop around on a figure eight pattern between 145^th street and 125^th street to transport students to and from campus.

 

The use of both types of buses generally poses no problems for students using the shuttle system; however, this is not the case early in the morning. From 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. there is a large influx of students that are on their way to morning classes; this usually leads to a build up of students waiting for the shuttle bus during those times. Considering that once a bus departs from a stop at either 145^th or 125^th street, it takes up to twenty minutes or more for the next bus to arrive. There is usually a large crowd of students waiting for the bus by the time the next one arrives. During times of inclement weather, the number of students opting to take the bus instead of walking dramatically increases. Despite this, the City College shuttle system continues to use the minibus on some mornings with no intentions of changing to accommodate the larger crowd.

 

The problem with this is that the number of students waiting for the bus is greater than the maximum capacity of the minibus. A significant portion of the group waiting for the bus would not be able to board, requiring them to either walk or wait longer for the bus at the other end of the route to loop around. This becomes a more significant problem when you consider that the students of City College who have disabilities or are elderly often choose to use the shuttle system due to difficulty with walking. These students will now have to deal with a large group of people pushing ahead of them to get onto the bus.

 

There is also an issue with the route that the shuttle buses take; currently there are no buses that path to a station that has access to the “1” train. This requires anyone needing to use the “1” train to walk a distance from campus that is arguably greater than the distance to the 145^th street station, which the bus currently routes to. This can be a dilemma for the disabled or elderly students, especially on days with bad weather due to both the distance and the terrain which includes a narrow sidewalk on a downwards hill.

 

The revamp of the current shuttle bus system should be a priority due to the numerous benefits that it offers to the City College of New York. Addressing the issues with the current shuttle bus system would help to make the commute between college and home a more enjoyable experience for many students at City College, indirectly conveying the message that City College cares for its students which would benefit the College’s reputation. This may encourage potential students who are looking for a college with a good intercampus transportation system to apply to City College.

 

Recommendation

The solution to solving the bus capacity issue would simply be to have set times for when the minibus can be used based on the number of students using or waiting for the bus. To accommodate the students who require stations other than the ones at 145^th or 125^th streets, there can be another bus added to loop around those stations and the campus. I wish to set up a meeting as soon as possible to further discuss the problem with the shuttle system and the possible solutions that I have proposed.