Campus
shuttle system shows student transportation
shortcomings
Niki Payne
We all know Cal State Long Beach has serious parking problems.
Not long ago, parking passes were raised to $98 to cover the costs of a new parking
structure, a structure I might not ever get to use after paying for its construction.
With the decrease in parking as a result of a lost lot because of construction,
it is not surprising to see an increase in the usage of the campus shuttle service.
When construction first began for the structure, I remember meeting students
on the shuttle who parked off-campus and used the off-campus shuttle.
I couldn’t help but feel resentment because I actually lived off-campus
and really needed to use the shuttle. I often would miss my shuttle because of
possible shuttle abusers. I guess this problem was addressed because in fall
2005, I was forced to obtain an off-campus shuttle pass.
When I first started living at Bay Crest apartments in fall 2004, the drivers
of the off-campus shuttle never checked passes. They would pretty much let anyone
on. A year later, I was denied entry onto the shuttle because I lacked my handy-dandy
off-campus pass. I was really offended considering I had used the shuttle service
without a pass for the past couple years when I lived near the off-campus shuttle
route and even the year before when I wasn’t even a resident of Long Beach
yet.
I bit the bullet and got my off-campus pass. I was actually kind of glad because
the shuttle drivers should have been checking for passes a long
time ago. My happiness was short-lived, however, when I found myself often missing
the shuttle to get home and waiting more than 30 minutes on several occassions.
When I did catch the off-campus shuttle home, I discovered that a majority of
the people on the shuttle were those getting dropped off at the dorms and at
the parking lots. Isn’t that what the on-campus shuttle is for, to get
you to various places on campus? The off-campus shuttle is for students who live
off-campus, to get those who live off-campus on and off the grounds.
What really gets me is the first stop on campus after getting picked up off-campus:
the dorms. Do you they have off-campus passes to get on the off-campus bus? No.
Do the drivers still let them on? Yes.
As if the shuttle weren’t packed enough, let’s go ahead and squeeze
in some lazy dorm students who don’t feel like walking to school. Wait.
They already are at school; heck, they live at school.
Do these dorm students realize other students walk just as far to get to their
car? Why can’t they just walk home and allow those who really need the
off-campus shuttle to use it. If you really are that lazy, take the on-campus
shuttle because that’s what it’s used for. If you plan on staying
on campus, why bother with the off-campus shuttle. Oh that’s right, too
lazy to wait for the on-campus shuttle so you hop on the already over-crowded
off-campus shuttle.
For all those who live off-campus, I really hope you can back me up here. It’s
an injustice to those of us who live off-campus for the shuttle drivers not to
check for passes. The off-campus shuttles are always over-crowded; I often see
the on-campus shuttle drive by nearly empty in comparison to the off-campus shuttle.
For all those who live on-campus, do yourself and off-campus students a favor:
get off your lazy bum and walk to class for once. Chances are you probably need
the exercise. We can’t fit you on the bus anyway.
Niki Payne is a junior journalism major.
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