Students this semester will have a different variety of bus options.
The city’s Regional Transit System officially added five new bus routes and discontinued two others last week to better connect routes and attract more riders. While buses on routes 21 and 41 were discontinued, students can now take routes 37, 19, 29 and 40 from campus through Gainesville during the day and route 129 at night.
"Two of the new routes that are aimed at students are already performing well," said Chip Skinner, marketing and communications supervisor for RTS. He said the nationwide average for a successful route is around 15 passengers.
For Bree Lawhead, a 20-year-old nursing third year, the new routes have already helped her commute.
"There used to only be two buses that would take me to the HPNP building which is where all my classes are," she said."Now I seem to be able to get a bus right away."
For other students, however, the new combination of routes has yet to be successful.
"It still really doesn’t fix the issue," said Jordan Hadeed, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering senior, who used to ride route 21 before the cancellation. "The 20s are always crowded and if I ever need to take it, it’s just irritating."
