Riding the bus between East and City campuses or from an off-campus residence to the U. Nebraska-Lincoln is a daily routine for many students. Other students, however, are unsure how to use the bus services that UNL and the City of Lincoln offer.
Some college towns have well-established bus services for students, while others lack any bus service at all.
UNL and Iowa State U. in Ames, Iowa, both have bus systems for student use, but route schedules vary widely.
ISU’s bus system CyRide is utilized by ISU students and Ames residents alike. It even has a Moonlight Express services which runs from 10:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. on weekends with both fixed routes and on-call shuttles. The bus is a popular mode of transportation in Ames, with 5,002,146 total riders in 2009, according to CyRide.com.
At UNL, there are two fixed intercampus routes and a perimeter route. These are through Lincoln’s city-owned bus system, StarTran. Students pay $8.94 per semester as a part of the student fees for bus passes allowing free ridership for the school year. This includes all City of Lincoln buses, not just intercampus routes.
The intercampus buses run from 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. The perimeter bus route runs from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday only. Students can board at any of 11 stops on City Campus and nine on East Campus.
As for buses going elsewhere in Lincoln, students may be at a loss as to where they can board a bus traveling to places other than the two campuses.
Linda Wisehart, an office assistant for StarTran, said there are several locations near campus where students may catch a bus to the greater Lincoln area.
“Some of the buses will go to 13th and Q,” she said. “All buses go to the Gold’s building on 10th and O streets and the State Office Building on 14th and M.”
StarTran city buses run from 5:15 a.m. to 7:10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5:55 a.m. to 7:10 p.m. Saturdays. There is no service on Sundays or on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Lauren Long, a junior psychology major who takes the bus almost everyday, said the intercampus buses are much improved from years past.
“I think it’s a lot better this year,” she said. “It’s really convenient. You never have to worry about not getting a seat. There’s never overcrowding.”
Franque Thompson, a senior broadcast journalism major, has experience taking a city bus getting to and from campus.
“It was pretty timely,” she said. “I had never really ridden the bus before, so it was a new experience.”
Thompson said the biggest adjustment was getting used to the schedule.
“It doesn’t come every five minutes like the ones on campus do,” she said. “I had to plan my schedule accordingly.”
She also said she thinks it would be more convenient if the buses had a specific drop-off point, so students who don’t live very far from campus don’t have to wait 20 minutes for the bus to complete its route before stopping near her home.
Mansour Alrsheed, a senior electrical engineering major, said he thinks the buses are not always the fastest option.
“Sometimes if I walk it’s faster than if I ride the bus,” he said.