The University of Connecticut is reducing the services of HuskyGO — UConn’s on-campus busing system — as a result of the ongoing budget crisis, according to reporting from The Daily Campus.
Starting March 17 and continuing through June 30, certain bus lines will have fewer shuttles and HuskyGO bus service hours will end earlier, according to university spokesperson Stephanie Reitz. Monday to Thursday and weekend shuttle services will end at approximately 10:30 p.m. instead of midnight and 1 a.m., respectively, and will also include the Hunting Lodge Road regional bus service. Shuttle services will end at 10 p.m. on Fridays.
In addition, Reitz confirmed that the Yellow Line will be reduced from three shuttles during peak times to two shuttles. Finally, the Campus Loop service that operates on weekends and during summer and breaks will be reduced to a single bus that will alternate between its two routes rather than having one bus operating on each route at the same time.
Over the past few weeks, The Daily Campus Editorial Board has extensively covered UConn’s budget crisis, and we are disheartened to already witness some of the immediate implications of UConn’s $70 million hole. Of the 19,388 students enrolled at UConn’s main campus in Storrs, nearly one-third of them live off campus.
On-campus parking is by no means a cheap investment for these students. UConn offers seven parking areas for commuters: Lot C, Lot I, Lot K, Lot N, Lot W, Lot Y and the South Parking Garage. These prices range from $353 to nearly $1,000 dollars for an entire year. Many students parking in these lots rely on UConn’s busing to navigate campus.
The need for consistent transportation is doubly important for students with mobility needs. While students who require transportation accommodations can apply for UConn’s on-demand Accessible Van Service (AVS), public transportation should be designed with accessibility in mind for all students. Furthermore, an accessibility issue universal to all students at UConn’s Storrs campus is weather conditions that make traversing campus difficult. UConn’s infamous reputation as a wind tunnel compounds this issue.
This reduction in services will lead to an exasperation of an existing problem for UConn’s shuttle services. Reporting from The Daily Campus last semester highlighted growing frustration within the student population regarding UConn’s busing. Further stripping away the services of these buses will only lead to the system declining in reliability, increased disruptions and delays and significantly longer waiting times. This isn’t a new problem either, as the prior network of HuskyGO buses and shuttles connecting various parts of campus and surrounding areas has been known for its frequent struggles to maintain consistency and convenience.
It is even more frustrating considering that, at the beginning of the month, reporting from The Daily Campus showed that the UConn Foundation had spent nearly $500,000 on private jets in recent fiscal years. While these expenditures come from different funding streams, we can’t help but notice a double standard when watching UConn adamantly defend spending so much money on a commodity so few get access to while diminishing one of the few sources of free transportation around the over six miles of Storrs’ campus — all while UConn is arguing that it is necessary to do so for budgetary reasons.
There is also the way in which this decision, which impacts thousands of students, was announced. At first, UConn didn’t even announce the change to an official communication channel; it was first announced by a user on Reddit, according to The Daily Campus. Only the next day did UConn post an announcement to the UConn Daily Digest, where they simply confirmed the changes while urging students to reach out to UConn Transportation Services.
UConn’s lack of communication on this issue is just another brick in the wall that has been built between university administrators and the undergraduate population. Over the years, countless instances have been documented of UConn leaving its students in the dark regarding major campus policy changes. We are watching it play out in real time once again as the university consistently fumbles with its communication regarding its budgetary crisis.
Administering a university is inherently difficult: it’s impossible to meet all the needs of all the people you serve. But there is something to be said about making an honest, communication effort with those you serve, something that UConn has persistently negelected over the past few years. Effective communication is vital for a productive administrative body, and much like its busing services, UConn is undercutting that.