In order to improve student safety, the University Transit Service will change the frequency of buses on the Blue and Orange lines to 12 minutes at all times.
The new schedule, replacing the current one, in which buses comes every 10 minutes during the day and every 20 minutes in the evening, will take effect on August 25.
Student Council and two University committees -- the Transportation and Parking subcommittee on Escort Review and the General Safety and Security Committee -- recommended the changes in order to better serve the night-time transportation and safety needs of students, according to Council Vice President for Administration Will Sowers.
The committees reviewed issues of safety on Grounds and researched plans at other universities for examples on which to base the new improvements.
"We wanted to maintain a high level of service, but at the same time focus more on safety," Sowers said of the committees' goals.
One problem the committees noticed was that students sometimes had to wait over three-quarters of an hour for an Escort Service van. The vans are offered as a safe night-time transportation option, but long waits were reducing their effectiveness. The committee recommended alleviating this problem by increasing the evening frequency of buses.
"Instead of waiting 45 minutes at those high-peak times, [students] can take a bus and it will be 12 minutes or less," University Police Cpt. Michael Coleman said of the new service.
The committees also recommended changes in the way the Escort Service operates. The 50,000 riders it carried during a year were stressing the resources of the Escort Service.
"It was focusing too much on being a party shuttle," Sowers said.
Starting this fall, only groups of three or fewer students will be allowed to use the service, which is changing its name to SafeRide.
The committees also recommended a walking escort service, which will provide escorts for students who only need to travel short distances.
With regard to less frequent buses during the day, Sowers said the committees did not foresee any problems.While crowding was a minor concern, the number of buses will only decrease slightly.
"The two minutes lost during the day was well worth it given the eight minutes gained during the night," Sowers said.
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