Feature photo by Hannah Carley
Story by Bailey Lowe
Students on MTSU’s campus raised concerns about parking issues, but Parking and Transportation Services has a shuttle system that may solve some of these problems.
The Raider Xpress is a shuttle service available for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. The shuttle service offers a wide range of times available for campus use.
Shuttle buses on campus were introduced to help the environment. By taking the buses around campus, many will save gas and time.
There are three bus routes around campus: green, blue and red. The green route has the lowest number of riders reported, and the red route leads in the number of students who take the shuttle services. The number of shuttles run during the semester can often vary daily due to the number of students riding the bus or just by semester.
“There are only two buses that take the green route a day. It does not have the ridership numbers to justify it financially or for our environment,” Read said.
The red route runs all around campus to the Rutherford Lot, the blue route runs on a similar route to the red but at the Agriculture Lot and the green route runs all the way to the outer parking lots and the Miller Education Center. Students can view each bus route and bus location by downloading the MTSU Mobile app and viewing the map.
Various students knew about the shuttle services offered by the campus. However, many students, like Natile Shunk, feel like the shuttle service is “not advertised enough” or “do not know where to find the information about them.”
“I have seen them [shuttle buses], but I have never used them before,” said Natile Shunk.
The Director of Parking and Transportation Services, Tracy Read, is an MTSU graduate and was an off-campus commuter while attending.
“They started offering the shuttle services (The Raider Xpress) in 1993,” Read said.
The number of seats often varies from bus to bus for sitting passengers, bars for standing passengers and accessible areas with space and ramps for wheelchairs.
“Service is available only when classes are in session. All shuttles are accessible to persons with disabilities,” Read said.
During the evening, the routes are likely to take a shorter time due to less traffic from school and work than during busier times of the day.
“Students can expect a greeting from a professional driver, and they will be driven safely, and they can expect customer service,” said Read. “Another thing that they are going to get is priceless and nontangible…they are going to get that feeling of a ‘parent or grandparent’ from one of our drivers. It is that little ‘above and beyond’ that is not expected… but appreciated and something to brag about.”
Many students have concerns about parking on campus. With temperatures being extremely high during the first week of classes, many students feel exhausted and hot going to class.
“I have to walk at least twenty minutes just to get back to my car,” said Zoe Scheidrich. “And in this heat, it is not fun. Trying to find a parking spot as a commuter and having enough time to park, find a spot, and then get to my class as well…It was just bad. It has gotten a little better, but it still does not feel like there is enough parking for us or everybody.”
Bailey Lowe is a contributing reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
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