The shuttle system run by Saint Louis University transports students from the main Frost Campus to the Health Sciences Campus regularly. However, scheduling conflicts, high demand of transportation and the delay of Grand Bridge reconstruction has made this process into a complicated web of logistics, leaving many students and staff unsatisfied.

“I think in its current form [the shuttle service] is not giving the service we need. The University needs to invest further in transportation services,” said Philip Alderson, vice president for the Health Sciences Campus.

Currently, SLU Facilities Services operates three shuttles, each of which holds 28 seated passengers. The choice for the number of seats is well above the average number of passengers, according to Tom West, director of Mail, Distribution and Transportation Services.

“We have our peak times, but at times zero people are riding the shuttles, so that choice [of seating] was made as the most efficient way to do it,” West said.

Right before the start of fall break, an express shuttle route was implemented to alleviate the crowding of peak riding times. This route picks up at the Busch Student Center and runs to the corner of Caroline Street and South Theresa Avenue.

“We took a look at where the peak times were and where [the students] are getting on and getting off, and that’s kind of how we established that express run,” West said. The new route puts a shuttle departing the BSC every seven to eight minutes.

Adding an express route is the direct result of the flood of students trying to get down to the School of Nursing and Allied Health for early morning classes, particularly for an 8 a.m. class of more than 200 students.

According to Joe Stumpf, a Mail, Distribution and Transportation Services supervisor, “There’re about two pickup times when [students] are just flooding the busses.” The express route is meant to alleviate the congestion caused by these peak times, which can often cause the shuttle schedule to be disrupted.

Michael Shay, a sophomore in the Doisy College of Health Sciences, said he has yet to take the shuttle to his classes this year due to the unreliability of the shuttle service.

“I have waited for shuttles for long periods of times this year and have decided to walk instead, beating the shuttle to the [medical] campus,” he said.

Allison Usher, also a sophomore in Doisy, echoed Shay’s account, stating that this year the shuttle seems to be more unreliable.

“It feels like every time I wait at the shuttle stop, I seem to have just missed the shuttle, and I am usually there on time for the set arrival/departure,” she said.

Heavy congestion during shuttle routes will be further disrupting once the Grand Bridge is taken down, a project that has now been delayed until February. The constant changes in the start date have complicated plans for alternate routes that the shuttles will use once Grand is no longer the main thoroughfare between campuses.

“We’re going to try and remain as flexible as possible,” West said.

West said that the plan includes working with the city to determine where the city will redirect traffic, and then adjusting shuttle routes accordingly.

Facilities Services is also working with members of a Parking and Transportation Committee and a Grand Bridge Closure ad hoc committee, which includes representatives from Student Government Association, to get feedback on the current status of the shuttle system, and to make adjustments in light of construction projects.

“We’re trying to be more proactive than reactive at this point,” SGA President Courtney Anvender said.

West said that Transportation Services is looking to get as much student feedback as possible on the shuttle system, especially as the bridge closure draws near. Student suggestions are brought up during committee meetings, and members of transportation services have been riding the shuttles to talk to riders.

“We want to see what they wanted from us, what they needed, what they were looking for so that we could adjust and make [the shuttles] as accommodating as possible,” West said.

Currently, several shuttle routes are being tested, including alternate routes down various side streets. The shuttles move through these routes and make stops as if these were actual routes that may be used.

To determine these alternate routes and plans, Transportation Services and Parking and Card Services have looked to past instances of construction, including construction plans that temporarily shut down Compton Ave. and Vandeventer Ave., as well as a short-term shutdown of Grand Ave. during a resurfacing project.

“We’ve had to deal with this on a much smaller scale before,” Ann Gioia, director of Parking and Card Services, said.

Another essential component of the planning centers on working with the individual schools on the Health Sciences Campus to coordinate student schedules around transportation.

“That’s what we’re trying to do, work with the individual schools and the students and find out what they want and when they need it,” West said.

This includes scheduling more time in between classes and also looking at where the students are going next so that the shuttle service can be ready to transport students to their next destination. Several committees are in place and administrators on the Health Sciences Campus are working to be advocates for the students in their transportation needs.

Alderson participates in regular town hall meetings with various students and faculty members to gauge concerns and communicate these needs back to central administration.

“Trying to improve the service is the primary thing,” Alderson said, “We still have to be flexible in watching the way that the patterns change and see what’s happening.”

Part of this flexibility will include communicating changes to the shuttle services effectively to students. West said his staff is going to “communicate with every means possible,” including announcements in SLU Newslink and direct e-mails to students affected by changes.

Those involved in transportation planning for the bridge closure said they are also encouraging students to speak out about their experiences with the shuttle.

“As we watch the system we’re going to be looking for feedback from students through SGA,” Alderson said.

Some of the student feedback on transportation issues has centered on alternate options students could utilize to travel between campuses. Gioia said that currently the Department of Parking and Card Services is not planning on providing other parking options when the Grand Bridge closes. She said that more than enough parking is available in the parking garages, and that parking only gets crowded during the morning rush.

“Students on the [Grand Bridge closure committee] tossed around the idea of working with different student groups to get carpools set up,” Gioia said. She said that such efforts, along with the express shuttle route will ease congestion that results from construction.

Students who do not have access to a carpool have had to look at other options to avoid shuttle congestion. Usher purchased a bike to travel to the Health Sciences Campus, an option that she said is much faster than the shuttle.

“It has been the best way for me to get back and forth, so I don’t know what I am going to do when they take out the bridge on Grand,” Usher said.

As plans for the bridge closure are formed, all groups involved said that they plan on adjusting to changes as quickly as possible and taking student feedback into consideration.

“Our hope would be that we’ve sized up the problem accurately and that what we’ve put in place will solve the problem, we’re looking for feedback,” Alderson said.