The newly created bus system at the University of Alabama has played a vital role in transporting students to their destinations. The students have voiced their support for the bus system, and it has been quite successful since its creation in the fall of 2007. The University’s bus system, referred to as the “Crimson Ride” has implemented several great ideas including a bus GPS called “Transloc,” located on their website so students will know exactly where the buses are. Even with the new bus system in place, at times students could be stuck waiting up to an hour for their bus to arrive. Also, instead of listing the destination, the current bus system takes a rather odd approach by giving routes according to color coordination. This can cause a lot of confusion to students new to the bus system because there are three different colors and eight different stops. The Crimson Ride also fails to travel to any shopping centers. While there are many positives the new system brings to the university, such as shorter walks and getting to class quicker, there are many things that could improve it significantly.
After interviewing student Ivan Teplov, I discovered that there was a lack of buses per number of riders. Ivan stated that, “the bus system was unreliable at all times because there’s too many students and not enough buses”(Teplov). The buses are often uncomfortably crammed with students. After looking at the routes and the distances the buses have to travel, it was clear the problem was the duration of the travel. My research lead me directly to the source bus driver John Lane, who stated that “the buses become quickly over crowded due to the number of students and not having enough buses on campus” (Lane). Mr. Lane felt that the school could use more buses to accommodate the student body as well as the bus drivers. Though buses may be overcrowded, and wait times may be long, buses have been a commodity to a large population of students at The University of Alabama.
The Transloc system has been a great addition to the aid of students trying to catch their bus. “The buses have GPS technology and can be tracked from a cell phone with a browser, to a PDA or a computer”(Crimsonride.ua.edu). The website also provides a well laid out map of campus. The map shows the color schemes of the buses and where they travel. They also have seven buses running on nights and weekends. This helps reduce possible DUI’s and reckless driving at night. The buses not only run nearly everywhere around campus, including the Recreational Center, but they are also free of charge to students, facility, and visitors.
The bus system at the University of Alabama has been efficient in a lot of areas, but is still new and will take time to figure out all its disadvantages. As more students enroll each year, it would clearly be more efficient to acquire more buses to accommodate the intake of new students so that everyone would be able to enjoy a good comfortable ride to class. The bus system at UA has turned the once “walking campus” into a more futuristic and faster paced campus it is today.
To contact the Crimson Ride for bus routes or times you can visit their website at Crimsonride.ua.edu.
Works Cited
Crimson Ride. Web. 30 Sept. 2009.
Lane, John, and Ivan Teplov. "CrimsonRide." Interview by Charles
Crimson Ride. 2009. Photograph. Tuscaloosa. First Transit. Annex Media, 2009. Web. 2 Oct. 2009.
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