By
Dear UCSC Students,
Please don’t take the City or Metro bus around campus! Here’s why: We have a perfectly great bus system ourselves operated by TAPS: Transportation and Parking Services. And every time you get on a Metro bus they charge the university over a dollar, which comes out of OUR BUDGET! This impacts our ability to provide services to you!
We have all these old funky buses that are quite safe, I might add, and collectors’ items too, but they tend to break down a lot more than newer buses would. We are working on buying newer buses all the time and just this last quarter, fall ’07, we bought two Internationals and five Low Floor Transit style buses that are really nice. But we won’t be able to keep doing this if students keep riding the Metro bus around campus.
I know that sometimes you are in a hurry, or maybe you just don’t care. But please think about it before you get on another Metro bus just to cross campus. Of course, the Metro bus is the best way to get downtown from campus or to campus from town. But around campus TAPS has got it covered.
Not all buses, day and night, go to the Quarry Plaza/Bookstore. The Loop and Upper Campus do not. This can all get confusing, so please pick up a schedule and map of the routes, available on the buses. Schedules and maps are also posted at all bus stops. So, if you are going to the Library or to Kerr Hall, Classroom Units, Performing Arts, take the Core from either the East or West Remote lot. If you are going to Science Hill, Crown/Merrill, Nine/Ten or Kresge, take the Upper Campus route or the Loop. But the Loop doesn’t go into the Quarry Plaza, nor does the Upper Campus bus.
Tips on catching the bus or getting off the bus:
Make sure the driver knows you want their bus. If there is already a bus at your stop, we may not realize you still need a ride. Please flag us down if we don’t see you.
Make sure the driver knows which stop you want. Please call out or ring for your stops. Saying “Next stop please” is a good way to let us know, especially on Core buses, which have no buzzers. We do our best to pay attention, but buses can be noisy, so please speak up.
Lastly, and most important, all of the drivers want you to know how much we appreciate it when you let a Metro bus pass by and instead take the campus shuttle supplied to you by TAPS with your student fees. With all of us working together we can continue to provide the service you count on from us.
_Check out the TAPS web page at http://www2.ucsc.edu/taps/pages/dayshuttles.html_
*Stuart E. Clark*
