ALLENDALE, Mich. — The Rapid and Grand Valley State University (GVSU) added two extra buses Tuesday to routes 37 and 48, which run between the Allendale campus and off-campus apartments.
Now, three buses run on those two routes at a time, between 7 a.m and 10 p.m. Previously, there were only two buses running at a time.
"We realized we had demand, more demand than we had capacity," said Chris Swank, Manager of Operations for the facilities department at Grand Valley. "So, we’ve been coordinating with The Rapid to add additional buses to the off campus routes, 37 and route 48."
Swank said they will continue to work with The Rapid on count totals, and monitor the amount of demand. They can add additional buses if necessary.
In a statement, The Rapid said the additional bus to routes 37 and 48 will allow the routes to run every five to ten minutes. The additional service was added to provide more capacity.
Some students said crowding was an issue on those two lines on the first day of class Monday.
"They had every seat filled, and there were people standing at the front of the bus," said GVSU junior Morgan Steele, who lives in an off-campus complex. "A girl I didn’t know sat down next to me, and her arm brushed next to mine. It felt so unsafe."
Steele said she had expected seats to be roped off to accommodate social distancing, as it was during the summer. However, she was disappointed to see the bus packed once more students returned to school.
"They sent out emails every week, videos talking about how they were making campus as safe as possible," said Steele. "The fact that even the transportation, which is so important for people who don't have cars, or parking passes, or don't have a way to get to campus. The fact that’s not safe, when that should be one of the base things, was just really frustrating."
The Rapid's statement, it also said they did not receive any other reports of capacity issues on routes other than the 37 and 48, including the Laker Line.
Other students noted a difference in the passenger volume on the buses today, after the addition was made.
Meanwhile, students we spoke with who rode the new Laker Line, which is a double-length bus that runs from GVSU's Pew Campus to Allendale Campus, said it felt more spread out.
RELATED: Laker Line service starts August 24
"The social distancing was good," said Julia Hanyes, a GVSU junior after leaving the Laker Line. "I like how the seats are facing opposite ways, so you don’t have to face each other. Everyone was wearing a mask, so it felt safe."
With less students on campus at a time, due to many classes being conducted online this year, some students said they are less inclined to buy parking passes for the year. They will be taking the bus more than they did any other year.
"People don’t want to pay for parking passes with one class this year," said GVSU sophomore Grace Smit. "It could get crowded in the afternoon, the big rush. So, it’s smart of them to add more buses to the route."
Not all students we spoke with saw crowded buses Monday or Tuesday. Some noted there are only a few times a day the passenger volume would be high enough to not account for social distancing.
"From what I’ve seen, they’ve limited the amount of kids that can be on it, and we're trying to keep a distance seating-wise," said Smit. "When we were on it, everyone was sitting far apart from each other."
However, Steele is still concerned adding two additional buses is not going to fix the problem of crowded buses during peak times.
"I don’t think that’s enough," said Steele, "There should be way more buses, and they should limit the number of people on a bus. Because they’re telling us to social distance, but not giving us the space to do that by letting 30 people on the bus."
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