Ask anyone at Boston University how the campus shuttle service is and there's a good chance they'll tell you it's either bad or aggravating. For a school with a 60k+ price tag, good shuttle service is expected, especially when the campus is a mile and a half long with dorms that bookend this distance. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Buses are constantly being taken out of service right when students are trying to get to class, leaving only a few buses running on both the main campus and the medical campus. This happens all of the time, and it needs to stop.
I've tried to maintain a positive outlook on the bad bus service, thinking it would get better, but I've finally given up on that. The other day, I sat outside of StuVi 2, where those that live in west campus take the bus to get to their classes in central/east campus, a half hour before my 11 a.m. class. As soon as I walked to the stop, I saw that one of the buses was taken out of service as another bus that just pulled up was taken out of service as well. At 10:45, a bus finally pulls up that wasn't going out of service, but I was standing too far from the doors, so there was no more room by the time I finally reached the bus doors. At this point it was 10:50, and I had class in the School of Education (in east campus) in ten minutes. When I looked at my BU Mobile app, it said that there was another bus coming, so I decided to wait instead of walking and showing up to class late. Lo and behold, when the bus rounded the corner, the digital display on the front of the bus read OUT OF SERVICE. It was 10:55, and I had no choice but to walk to class. I got there almost 15 minutes late. No big deal right? It could have been worse, but I shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.
I know it's the beginning of the school year, but students shouldn't have to worry about the buses on top of worrying about schoolwork and other responsibilities. With a higher price tag comes higher expectations, so it would be greatly appreciated if the school could work towards better bus experiences for students. It's not traffic that causes all of this, it's the lack of reliability and organization. So BU, please fix this issue, before it creates even bigger problems in the future.
