After weeks of being out of service, the GPS system on the UConn buses are functioning. When students arrived this semester, they noticed a few changes in the campus’s transportation. Five new buses were operating around campus, but the GPS systems for the Live Bus Tracker on the myUConn app were not functioning. With students relying buses for their daily routine, the lack of this tracking system both caused problems for students and infringed on their adjusting to a new semester.
Students utilize the buses for travel throughout campus and even to off campus apartments. Regular buses run Monday to Friday and a weekend shuttle aids student travel other times as well. These services are provided frequently, with the bus routes stopping in regular increments. However, buses often run a few minutes early or late, so the bus tracking system helps students who utilize the transportation system estimate when they must be at the bus stop to catch their bus and make it to class and other events on time.
This semester students went weeks without this aid in their daily planning, meaning many late attendances to classes and waiting for late buses in below freezing temperatures. The implementation of five new buses stemmed the problems with these GPS systems. Some of the GPS units had to be updated, so while some of the units were being updated, all of the GPS systems were shut down in order not to confuse students. It is inconvenient that these problems were not addressed during the month long break when students were not on campus. Ensuring that the bus systems are ready for the start of the semester should have been a top priority for the university’s transportation services over the month long winter break.
There are five additional new buses about to replace the last of the old buses still being utilized around campus. Students finally are able to use the GPS system to assure they will be able to catch their buses. It is necessary that before UConn’s transportation services introduce the new buses, they make sure that these problems will not occur again.
Alyssa Luis is a weekly columnist for The Daily Campus opinion section. She can be reached via email at alyssa.luis@uconn.edu.