UH shuttle at the Sugar Land campus on Nov. 27, 2023, Sugar Land , Texas. | Robert De La Garza/ The Cougar
UH Sugar Land shuttles have undergone constant changes. Continuing the trend, students will witness another change coming to the shuttles this fall.
The University plans to reduce the number of shuttles that run between Sugar Land and UH Main and expand the routes within the Fort Bend County Transit Service.
“We are planning to optimize the shuttle service and adjust service levels to accommodate the need for Technology Division students to travel between UH at Sugar Land and UH,” said Director of Media Relations Bryan Luhn.
Because of this new change, only one shuttle will operate from 8 a.m. till 10 p.m. from Monday through Thursday, and from 8 a.m. till 12 p.m. on Fridays.
UH will provide an additional bus during the course peak hours from Monday through Thursday and adjust the schedule as needed to support students, Luhn said.
“This is about cost avoidance and allows us to stabilize reserves for unforeseen needs as this service is offered complimentary to this cohort of students,” Luhn said.
Frustration regarding no communication
Students are frustrated that no communication about this change has been made yet, and users of the services are finding out from professors in their classes.
“I’m kinda pissed I found out in my Intro to Digital Media lecture and not an email from the University,” said pre-business and incoming digital media junior Sattwik Padhi.
Many students have been hearing about the decision from their peers rather than the University themselves. As of now, the UHSL website isn’t updated with the recent information as well.
“The way I figured out was out of the blue, no email or outreach,” said biotechnology freshman AbdurRahman Khan. “This is outrageous and very inconsiderate of UH to do this to students who use it on a daily basis.”
Outrage because of no accommodation
Most students who use these services are technology majors and are either commuting to UHSL or staying on the main campus.
This is because the Sugar Land campus doesn’t have living accommodations for students. Students believe UH is slowly shifting their technology division entirely to the Sugar Land campus without suitable living amenities.
Padhi is a resident of Austin and is going to UH for his studies. This decision frustrates him because he feels he’s being forced to comply with UH’s uncomfortable changes.
Many students purposefully decided to stay on the main campus and opted for housing so that they could use the shuttle services.
“It’s terrible because if they require you to take classes, there should be appropriate housing as well,” Padhi said.
Current unsatisfactory experience
Considering past experiences with the shuttle system, students are neither confident nor happy with this upcoming change.
“The delays already make me very mad. Once, I had two buses pass right in front of me, saying they are out of order,” Khan said. “My class ended at 2:30 p.m. and I reached my home by 5:00 p.m., only because of the delays. It’s getting out of hand.”
With the reduced number of shuttles, students fear they will be missing classes or will have to leave early for school.
“Given that peak hours are typically in the mornings, I feel that this would affect me badly in the fall semester since I have 8:30 a.m. classes at UHSL,” said mechanical engineering technology sophomore Denise Gonzalez. “If buses are reduced, I will risk missing shuttle rides.”
Khan feels that instead of increasing the number of shuttles because of the already increasing wait time, it’s upsetting that they are reducing it instead.
However, contrary to students’ doubts, the University made this decision based on current ridership numbers and class schedules.
“The changes are due to current and projected ridership for the fall, based on discussions with the Technology Division,” Luhn said. “We anticipate this service will be able to accommodate all students who meet criteria and have a shuttle permit.”
Students are also upset with the condition of the shuttles and are unsatisfied with the amount of money Parking and Transportation is charging them.
“Please fix the shuttle,” Khan said. “Students in the back are literally flying to the front of the bus.”
Possible solutions
Fort Bend which began in Fall 2024 is adding at least four routes from the UH Welcome Center to Fort Bend AMC due to demand and ridership, for a total of seven routes between Fort Bend AMC and UH, Luhn said.
However, students believe that a better solution would be to stop shifting technology students to Sugar Land and improve the carpool system by making it more accessible.
Gonzalez even suggested making a similar app like the shuttle tracker for carpooling to make it easier for other commuters to connect.
“A better solution would be to stop shipping the technology students to another city to take their classes,” Padhi said. “I would like to tell UH to please stop making it harder to get to UHSL.”
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