Bus congratulates 1 millionth rider
Julia Stock was running late for class Tuesday morning and took the Stadium Express shuttle to campus, but wasn’t expecting what came next, she said.
Around 11:30 a.m. the bus pulled into the loop near the TSC where Big Blue and the USU Transportation staff told Stock she was the one-millionth rider of the USU Shuttle System since July 1, 2010.
“I’ve been with the Aggie shuttle since ’94,” said Alden Erickson, Aggie Shuttle supervisor, “and we have done random counts over the years, but we have never been able to document the millionth rider until this year.”
During the summertime, campus shuttle ridership is low, he said, so there have been approximately one million riders within the recent fall and spring semesters alone. One of the bus drivers’ responsibilities is to record how many people board the bus on each round, Erickson said. The count information is then stored in a smart phone application.
One reason Erickson believes the ridership increased was because during peak hours all 10 shuttles were running.
“It’s kind of important that we celebrate that people are coming to the realization they should stop paying for parking passes and taking their cars to school,” said Stocks, a freshman majoring in music therapy. “It’s easier on everyone and the environment.”
Erickson – with Big Blue – boarded the shuttle, megaphone in hand, and congratulated Stokes for helping reach this goal. She was presented with a certificate and a $15 gift card to the USU Bookstore.
Stokes was told on her way to class from Snow Hall to board the bus again after class so the announcement could be made. Those facilitating recognition of the one-millionth rider weren’t expecting to reach the number until later that afternoon.
“Ridership is climbing,” Erickson said, “so that is what this is all about. In this day and age our free bus rides is very helpful.”
In the freezing winter, Stokes said she relies heavily on the shuttle system and is grateful for it. Without the shuttles she would need to set aside even more time to travel to and from campus that she would otherwise spend studying, she said.
“You can’t take your bike around in the winter and it’s a frozen walk,” she said. “There was this one time when the buses weren’t going and I had to run somewhere in the freezing snow.”
In order to improve shuttle services further, Erickson will purchase two more shuttles, replacing one. He said he will keep the diesel shuttle for trips that take harsher road conditions. With 11 buses, Erickson said he hopes they will reach one million riders even earlier next year.
“In a college town this is a big deal,” Stokes said, “because we are supporting keeping the air clean. We have a gorgeous campus and a gorgeous valley and we need to protect and take care of it.”
– catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu