Clemson University // Courtesy
East Park-N-Ride recently got new buses and extended hours.
As you may have seen, there have been quite a few transportation innovations on campus recently. These changes include new Park-N-Ride buses, new shuttles and extended route times. All of these have made navigating parking easier for students, but how do the bus drivers feel about these changes?
With student parking lots being torn up to build parking garages, many students had to buy other passes, leading to a record number of East Park-N-Ride passes sold. This extra traffic in the P-7 and P-8 lots has led to Clemson Parking and Transportation Services getting new buses and opening up the lots to Friday hours. Previously, the Park-N-Ride route only ran Monday through Thursday.
Rick Sanphy, a bus driver for the East Park-N-Ride, says that he enjoys the new buses as they ride smoother and look better, despite there being a few bugs to fix still.
“It’s expected with something new, takes a little while to get used to,” said Sanphy.
There are two different types of new buses: 40-foot and 35-foot. The only big difference, according to Sanphy, is that there is one more seat on the 40-foot bus.
The Friday hours were “necessary, there’s definitely a need for it now … all the Friday activities they have going on,” said Sanphy.
Though Sanphy confirmed drivers were not given voices or options concerning the new Friday hours he insists: “You do what you gotta do to help. It’s a great place to work … I used to have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. It’s a long week for the drivers.”
The drivers were informed of this new change, but the change went into effect so much sooner than expected. Thirteen new buses are being added to the campus routes and are being prepared for installation over the next semester.
As for the future, Sanphy says, “I think right now it’s just a wait and see what happens with the student parking … See what they actually need to do.”
These additions are an improvement for a lot of students who used to park in commuter lots that have been torn down. It’s a relatively cheap pass, so it’s nice that students don’t have to worry about walking across campus on Fridays with the upcoming winter weather. It’s good to see that Clemson is adapting to the changes with student parking, given all the recent developments.
Sarah Bandhauer is a sophomore food science major from Brevard, North Carolina. Sarah can be reached at [email protected].