If you’re anything like me, you’ll need to travel around at one point or the next. Welcome back to our series within “Under the Rock,” on transportation options in Connecticut. Maybe you’ve taken them, or maybe you don’t know where to begin — this week, we’ll be talking about what University of Connecticut students need to know about taking the bus.
If you take a stroll on our main campus in Storrs-Mansfield, it won’t take long to spot a shuttle. “Husky Go” is the brand name for our on-campus buses, which are free for both students and the general public. There are seven routes on weekdays, each named after a color: Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Silver and Yellow, and two weekend “campus loop” routes. The Husky Go shuttles can save you time, especially if you have class far from your on-campus living or need to travel between UConn’s oh-so-far away student parking lots. I’m talking about you, W lot!
All of the Husky Go routes stop in front of the Student Union’s south entrance on Hillside Road except for the Hunting Lodge-Depot line (Route 675) — which stops at points in the North Campus area. Students can also track the location of these buses by using the Passio Go app, which notifies them of important messages such as detours and outages.
If you’re interested in going to the downtown area, the Red and Silver lines connect at the Nash-Zimmer Transportation Center, located at the corner of Royce Circle and Wilbur Cross Way. The complex also offers bike storage and a parking garage, which is free for the first two hours of your stay and $1 each additional hour at the time of writing. The Mansfield Public Library operates an express location here, where students can request library materials and enjoy a comfortable waiting room.
Get your U-Pass ready — It’s here where you can start your off-campus journey with buses operated by the Windham Region Transit District (WRTD) and CT Transit. WRTD Route 674, which has five variants: A, B, C, D and E, goes from UConn to the nearby city of Willimantic — making stops at Big Y, the East Brook Mall and the Four Corners among others. The route ends at the new Windham Intermodal Transportation Center at the corner of Walnut Street and Main Street in Willimantic, except at night, when it ends at the Gateway Commons Plaza also on Main Street. The fare is $1.25 per way, cash only, if you don’t use your U-Pass.
With WRTD, you can travel locally within Willimantic (Route 671), travel east to Killingly and Danielson (Route 993) or ride south toward Norwich on their route that also stops at the Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard (Route 991).
CT Transit, the statewide bus system, has one route that stops at Nash-Zimmer: Route 913. It’s an express line, which is usually reserved for buses traveling longer distances and making fewer stops. Route 913 starts at UConn and stops at park-and-ride lots in Tolland, Vernon and Manchester, stops at the Shoppes at Buckland Hills mall also in Manchester, and ends at in Downtown Hartford to make rail connections at Hartford Union Station and with CT Fastrak, a rapid bus service. The ride usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour, but the express-style buses include slightly more comfortable seats. Because of the longer distance, the fare is $5, also cash-only, if you don’t use your U-Pass.
Once you’re in Hartford, you can make a transit connection to basically anywhere in Connecticut and beyond. We’ll be going into the rail system soon, but there are numerous bus services that students can take as well. CT Transit buses can bring you as far as Torrington in Litchfield County, Old Saybrook on the shoreline, Middletown along the Connecticut River, Waterbury in the Naugatuck Valley and more — with local service in the Hartford, New Britain, New Haven and Stamford regions.
Other local bus operators in Connecticut often have connections with CT Transit routes, such as River Valley Transit in Middlesex County and the Southeast Area Transit District in the New London area amongst others. Students should reference those agencies’ timetables and route maps for the most up-to-date information — some may also participate in Passio Go or offer their own apps.
If you want to travel even further, intercity bus options are available to you. Greyhound and Peter Pan both operate routes from Hartford Union Station to destinations like Boston, New York City, Washington, DC and others with connections to go across the country. If your sights are set on Providence or Boston, Peter Pan’s eastbound routes do stop at the Nash-Zimmer Transportation Center, too. These intercity bus services are not eligible for U-Pass, however, and usually must be reserved and purchased ahead of time — and may be more time-consuming than the equivalent train trip.
If there’s somewhere you’d like to go, bus options are waiting for you! I regularly take advantage of these routes to go to work, see the sights and visit attractions statewide. For more information about transit in Connecticut, visit the CT Rides webpage at ctrides.com. See you again next week — until then, I’m going back “Under the Rock.”