Syracuse University’s Student Association will use student feedback to develop possible changes to the Euclid Shuttle program introduced last year, SA leaders said.

The Euclid Shuttle was launched as a pilot program at the beginning of the spring 2018 semester. The service has continued this semester with the same schedule and route.

Former SA President James Franco worked to develop the shuttle during the 2017-18 academic year to help improve student safety on and near campus. He discussed the initiative during the transition between the two legislative sessions, SA President Ghufran Salih said, but not extensively.

The shuttle takes students around University Hill areas such as Euclid Avenue, Ostrom Avenue, Marshall Street and Westcott Street. It makes stops near several residence halls.

The Euclid Shuttle is funded by Invest Syracuse, a $100 million initiative to improve academics and the student experience, among other things.

Blessing Emole | Design Editor

SA Vice President Kyle Rosenblum said he believes there are issues with the operation of the shuttle that need to be addressed if it is to continue to service the Syracuse community.

Rosenblum said one issue with the service was that usage of and knowledge about the shuttle was fairly low. Advertising the shuttle will be a main part of future updates to the initiative, he said.  

The vice president said posters outlined the shuttle’s route last semester, but the posters didn’t give exact times of service. He added that the lack of information could have negatively affected the number people who rode the shuttle.

“The Euclid Shuttle won’t be an effective program until we can actually have consistent and widespread usage of the shuttle,” Rosenblum said.

A revised program would ideally consist of permanent signs and schedules marking the location of each stop, Salih said.

Salih said she believes students might forget about the university’s free transportation on campus because of the popularity of ride-hailing services such as Lyft or Uber.

---

---

Six SU residence halls were among the ten most popular Uber destinations in Syracuse from June 2017 to June 2018, the company’s first year operating in the city. Three of the dorms included on Uber’s list  — Brewster, Sadler and Lawrinson — are serviced by the shuttle.

Abby Fritz | Digital Design Editor

Rosenblum and Salih said that the process to update the Euclid Shuttle program is in its early stages. The two SA leaders said they will spend the next few weeks reaching out to students to gather opinions about the shuttle. They will also discuss issues with the shuttle internally within SA, Salih said.

After connecting with the SU community, Salih and Rosenblum will meet with SU’s Parking and Transit Services to discuss possible improvements, Salih added.

Other changes to the Euclid Shuttle suggested by Salih and Rosenblum included adding more trips, updating the routes and having the shuttle available throughout the week. The shuttle currently makes 10 runs per night. It operates Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 10:30 p.m. and 3:25 a.m.

Rosenblum said the pilot run last semester was a good start to a program that still has room to grow.

“A trial run is always going to have its ups and downs,” Rosenblum said. “It was good to get it up and running in the sense that now we can work on improving it.”

Published on September 16, 2018 at 9:47 pm

Contact India: irmiragl@syr.edu