The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

South Loop shuttle may run earlier, farther

A majority of students chose 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. as the preferred option.

Student Government (SG) posted the results of the Roosevelt Shuttle Survey, which showed that the majority of students wanted the shuttle to run at earlier times and to have stops further north in the Loop, on Saturday. Significant changes to the shuttle are expected in the fall.

The Roosevelt Shuttle, also known as the South Loop Shuttle, currently runs every hour from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. The shuttle takes students from Reynolds Club to the Roosevelt CTA station and back.

The shuttle has had a limited number of users, a problem that was recognized by Raymond Dong, SG Chief of Staff.

“People don’t really use the shuttle, and it seems like a waste for how much funding goes into it. The most people that are on the shuttle at once is around ten people,” said Dong.

Dong developed a survey that asked students which times and drop-off spots they preferred for the shuttle.

The results revealed that the majority of respondents want the shuttle to run from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Students also said they wanted the shuttle to stop near Millennium Park instead of in the South Loop.

“Making the shuttles earlier is definitely a feasible change. We want to work on it as early as next fall, and we will potentially [add] two more stops in front of the Art Institute and right behind Millennium Park,” Dong said.

He began working on this SG initiative last spring with the University’s Director of Transportation, Theresa Brown. Deciding that he needed more information on student opinions to understand how to reform the shuttle, he created and posted the survey during winter quarter.

“I feel the best way to make changes here is to collect large-scale data and prove a point to the administrators,” he said.

Dong said he was encouraged by the number of responses.

“We got over 900 responses in two to three weeks, and 500 of these responses also had additional comments, which shows how much people actually care about the issue,” he said.

Out of the 900 respondents, approximately one-third were graduate students. Dong commented on the importance of talking to them, who, with an enrollment of over 10,000, comprise a large portion of the campus.

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