The Collegetown Shuttle recently added a stop near Morgan State University for the 2011-2012 academic year. The new stop is located in front of the McKeldin Center on East Cold Spring Lane and on Hillen Road at Morgan State University.
Morgan will join the shuttle's red route as the seventh institution visited by the shuttle.
"Morgan State University approached us last year after a town hall meeting they had on campus. During the meeting, students expressed the need for additional transportation options to connect with other students, commute to and from school, get to the airport etc.," Ankur Ponda, Senior Program Coordinator of the Baltimore Collegetown Network, said.
In addition to the new stops at Morgan, the Shuttle will now feature NextBus technology and a connection to the Charm City Circulator.
In previous years, students could only get to the Towson Place Shopping Center on Sundays. Now, students can go to the shopping center any day of the week.
The Blue Route starts at Goucher and ends at Penn Station. The Red Route goes from Towson University, to Morgan State University and then Penn Station.
In addition to the new shuttle stop at Morgan State University, the Collegetown Shuttle Network purchased NextBus technology, which allows riders to track the shuttle on the internet or on their cell phones by texting or calling.
The real-time transit information provides shuttle users with the comfort of knowing when and where the next bus will arrive.
Freshman Karin Umfrey thinks NextBus technology is a positive direction for the shuttle program.
"NextBus Technology is interesting and innovative," Umfrey said. "It affects my ride because it lets me know how much time I have until the next bus arrives. The first time I rode the bus, I didn't use this technology and waited for the bus for over an hour."
When she used the Collegetown Shuttle again, Umfrey texted NextBus and knew exactly when the bus would arrive.
"I did not have to wait outside for so long," Umfrey said. "I could do other things during that time like eat or study."
Ponda hoped that all students make use of NextBus technology just as Umfrey did.
"It helps me out a great deal when students call me to find out where the shuttle is," Ponda said. "Before NextBus, our tracking system was not consistent, and students had to guess when the bus would arrive. As with any new technology, it takes time to get used to."
He explained that the technology is new to Collegetown; the drivers who operate the service and the students the shuttle serves are still getting used to NextBus.
However, not all saw the additions as completely positive.
Junior Manisha Narayanan expressed her discontent over the addition of Morgan State to the Red Route.
"It will definitely inconvenience the students at the end of the route," Narayanan said. "On several occasions, I have had to wait more than an hour for the shuttle, only to watch the bus pass by [filled with] students from other schools."
Ponda addressed Narayanan's statement and admitted that the new route is longer in terms of time but offers flexibility.
"The red route is a little longer, so it takes a little more time to travel on. For example, if you are traveling from Towson to Penn Station on the Red Route versus the Blue Route, it might take 10 to 12 minutes more," Ponda said.
"The Red Route is a new addition to our service and aside from having a new school on the route, the Towson Place Shopping Center, where the Target and Wal-mart are, is a stop on the route."
In general, the Network enjoys the value that NextBus has added to its service.
Narayanan recounted that her experience using the shuttle during her freshman and sophomore years was not up to her standards.
"It was never on time and eventually my friends and I became fed up with the service," Narayanan said. "I rarely use it now, and I prefer to split a cab or use the metro when I am going out with friends."
However, Narayanan believed that NextBus technology could be the missing link to aid students when utilizing the Shuttle's services.
"I am happy that it will give students a more accurate time frame of when the shuttle will arrive," Narayanan said.
The Collegetown Shuttle now also connects with the Charm City Circulator at Penn Station to provide shuttle users with greater travel options. At Penn Station, simply transfer to the Charm City Circulator, a free bus service that serves the downtown area seven days a week. The Charm City Circulator allows individuals to visit neighborhoods such as Federal Hill, Fell's Point, and the Inner Harbor.
Ponda explained how this new service came to be and how students have already taken advantage of it.
"Based on data we collected from our ridership survey over the past two years, students were more familiar with the service and using it to get downtown," Ponda said. "We have been talking to incoming and current students at all the participating institutions to let them know of the changes we made and how they can go downtown every day and not solely on the weekends."
Ponda hoped that these changes would improve Baltimore as a college community.
The Shuttle is a free transportation service that offers two lines for students, staff and faculty to use free of charge at participating schools in the Baltimore region. Its route includes stops at Goucher College, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola University Maryland, Maryland Institute College of Art, Notre Dame of Maryland University and Towson University.
The shuttle allows individuals to simply use his or her college/university ID to board the bus to visit friends, get to an internship or explore Baltimore's finest hot spots.
The Blue and Red routes provide service to colleges that sponsor the shuttle and to the Towson Town Center and Towson Place Shopping Center.
About 74,000 individuals rode the Collegetown Shuttle during the 2010-2011 academic year.
Ponda predicted that the number would grow by about 5,000 people in the coming year due to the addition of another campus.
"Baltimore is truly a great college town, hands down, and transportation facilitates the connection between campuses," Ponda said. "With seven of our fourteen schools now on the shuttle route, we hope more students will connect with each other and attend events on each other's campuses, take a class at another campus and more."
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.