Students should take advantage of UH shuttle buses

Every day, students living on campus who don’t want to walk to class – or commuters who don’t want to spend 30 minutes circling the most popular parking lots looking for a spot – depend on the UH shuttle busses to take them to and from their cars.

Each undergraduate student pays a mandatory $185 student services fee for every semester spent at UH. According to the University Services Web site, the services this fee goes toward includes the University copy center, dining services, public safety, University services and parking and transportation, including the Cougar Line free campus shuttle.

While each student incurs some of the cost for the daily operation of the shuttles, it is still a public service. Often, students expect the shuttles to cater to personal needs, leaving dorm rooms at 3:50 p.m. for a class at 4 p.m., expecting a shuttle to be waiting outside their door – and muttering angrily when it doesn’t appear.

A service that serves thousands of students each day will undoubtedly face challenges, but UH Parking and Transportation Services has been doing its part. In January 2008, The Daily Cougar reported that 14 new shuttle busses were to be incorporated into the line by the next semester. Director Robert Browand said the busses were able to hold more students and were also more accessible to students with disabilities.

The Daily Cougar also reported at the beginning of this semester that UH was working with AFC Corporate Transportation and Metropolitan Transit Authority to use technology, such as online shuttle tracking and a passenger counting system, to better plan shuttle schedules and reduce the time students would have to wait for busses on specific routes.

Treating the shuttle bus drivers or fellow shuttle passengers with disrespect does nothing to improve the services. Students have every right to voice opinions on services their fees pay for, but they must do so in the correct manner. The UH Department of Plant Operations, which is in charge of parking and transportation, can be contacted at [email protected].

For more information about the department, visit the department Web site at http://www.uh.edu/plantops/pts/pts_contact.html.