There are several bus lines to get around campus and is useful for the bad weather. (Photo by Charlotte Lao/The Daily Campus)
Two weeks after the University of Connecticut Transportation Services launched a new bus tracking cell phone application, students said they have seen an improvement in tracking abilities but still have some concerns.
When students open the “bus tracker” section of their myUConn application, they are redirected to the app store where they can download the new application, called TransLoc Rider.
The new app allows students to favorite their most used stops, see three arrival times, see rider counts and set notifications for when the bus will arrive, according to Transportation Services.
“Now it’s much simpler to see when the buses are coming,” Quentin Goodman, a second-semester exercise science major, said. “When I’m in my room snoozing my alarm I can better judge when busses are coming.”
Fiona Brady, a fourth-semester political science major, admits that she doesn’t take the bus much, but was intrigued by the arrival notification feature.
“It seems like the notifications would be very convenient,” Brady said.
John Odoom, a physical therapy graduate student, was frustrated with the bus tracker built in to the myUConn application, and sees improvement in the new application.
“(The myUConn app) was frustrating,” Odoom said. “This app is more straightforward, and I like that you can highlight the routes.”
Goodman said he doesn’t see the necessity of the rider count feature.
“Some stuff isn’t needed,” Goodman said. “I don’t need to know how full the bus is.”
Goodman also said having to download a new app was not convenient, and liked it better when it was built in to the myUConn app.
“I don’t understand why they had to make a separate app,” Goodman said. “I have hardly any storage on my phone.”
Claire Phelan, a sixth-semester political science major, echoed Goodman’s frustration with having to download a separate app.
“I think it’s pretty inconvenient that you need to download a new app just to track the busses,” Phelan said.
Despite the new bus tracking app, Odoom still has some concerns about bus lines in general.
“Depending on where you live, it may be tough,” Odoom said. “Only one line comes to where I live, kind of off campus.”
The new bus tracking application came about after associate vice president of Facilities and Operations and Building Services Mike Jednak promised that the shuttle services would be improved.
“In the fall, there was a general discontent with the shuttle services,” Parking Services manager Dwight Atherton said. “It was left for transportation services to really fill that promise, and we found (this) new bus tracking system.”
Ashley Anglisano is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached by email at ashley.anglisano@uconn.edu.
