The Daily Campus

Issue date: 9/3/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Matt Lin Anthony Pomo, a 7th-semester economics major, gets off at L-Lot after riding the Orange line.

In an effort to increase student safety on weekends, UConn will offer shuttle service to and from late-night hotspots around campus this year.

Beginning at 10 p.m. this Friday, two university buses will make periodic stops both around campus and at popular party locations such as Carriage House and Celeron Square Apartments until 2 a.m.

The new service was developed in order to provide "safety for any activities that are going on on-campus and on Hunting Lodge Road," according to Janet Freniere, administrator at UConn Transportation Services.

"I think it's safer for anyone who would possibly be driving or walking around campus late at night," said 7th-semester English and women studies major Kaila Most.

The late-night shuttle will also service off-campus apartments, including Mansfield Apartments, Holinko Estates, Hunting Lodge Apartments, Clubhouse Apartments, as well Northwood Apartments, which are located on campus. A full schedule of the route will be available on the UConn Parking and Transportation Web site no later than Thursday, Freniere said.

"It's nice. I'm lazy so it will give me a ride when I need one," said 1st-semester athletic training major David Jordan, who said he will use the service to get to parties off-campus.

Rachel Raccuia, a 3rd-semester exploratory major, said the shuttle bus will give students a responsible way to get to and from their weekend activities.

"You always try to find a ride, but it's hard because you don't know what [the driver] has been doing," Raccuia said.

The buses are scheduled to make stops every 25 to 30 minutes, according to Freniere. They will be driven by a non-student driver and will also have a monitor on board, who will be trained in first-aid and responsible for checking for alcohol poisoning.

UConn decided to not use student drivers for the late-night shuttle due to safety reasons and also because "we didn't want to put them in a situation where they'd have to enforce the rules with their peers," Freniere said.

The shuttle buses' monitors "will be there primarily to look out for the passengers and the driver," Freniere said.

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