There are two new loop buses circulating UC Santa Cruz campus — well, new-er.
Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS) just acquired four buses, 2007 model 15 Gillig BRT, previously owned by Contra Costa Transit Authority. Two have been in operation on campus since April while the others continue to undergo inspections. They are 14 years newer than the 1993 New Flyer loop buses that have been in use on campus since 2010.
The purchase of the new shuttles has been in progress since Sept. 2023. Their implementation comes after months of student criticism aimed at TAPS following the release of California Highway Patrol’s (CHP) safety report of UCSC Transportation in January.
UCSC officials requested the report after a shuttle bus caught fire in Nov. 2023 due to mechanical failure and bus driver Dan Stevenson tragically died after a Dec. 2023 loop bus crash. The UCSC Police Department is still investigating the causes of the crash.
CHP’s findings were received by both Tracy Freeman, TAPS Transit Manager, and Theo Diamantopoulos, Fleet Manager. As the “carrier representatives” of UCSC Transportation, Diamantopoulos and Freeman are responsible for resolving the violations that lead to the unsatisfactory rating.
“Fleet Services conducts the routine maintenance and repairs and evaluates any issues reported by TAPS,” Diamantopoulos wrote in an email interview with City on a Hill Press. “Our last inspection was in September 2023; no deficiencies were found with any of the shuttles examined by the CHP, including the one in the December 2023 crash.”
For their report, CHP inspected nine out of the twelve 35-foot loop buses, and reported UCSC Transportation to be an “imminent danger to public safety.” As a result of the report’s findings, five buses were placed Out-Of-Service due to brake issues and inoperable emergency exits, and TAPS was given an “unsatisfactory” safety compliance rating.
Lingering Concerns
Following the report, there was a Feb. 2 town hall meeting organized by the Student Union Assembly, where many students expressed their fear of riding on-campus transit vehicles. Sufia Singh, a fourth-year student, recently rode a new loop bus and echoed similar sentiments.
“I have pretty little faith in TAPS management,” Singh said. “There will likely still be problems of [the new loops] being unreliable and over time of them not getting replaced or maintenance not being done when it should be.”
According to TAPS’ Executive Director Dan Henderson, the Gillig BRT buses are the first step in phasing out the 1993 buses, a necessary transition as “it was becoming increasingly difficult to source parts for the older vehicles.”
Kevin Parks has been a Senior Automotive Equipment Operator for TAPS for 23 years. He expressed concerns about the delay in obtaining updated loop buses.
“When we got the [1993] buses in [around] 2009, we purchased 20 of them, and that was when the student population was much smaller. Four is a step in the right direction, but there’s a long way to go,” Parks said. “Management needs to step up and we need to provide the transportation for the students who are paying for it.”
Bus Inspections
UCSC Fleet Services conducts inspections on the loop buses. TAPS hires and manages the drivers. When asked about the CHP safety report, Dan Henderson stated that TAPS “works in close proximity to Fleet,” but they are not the same service.
“Fleet maintains all UC vehicles on campus. TAPS does not do that,” Henderson said. “TAPS operates the vehicles, we employ the drivers, we manage service, and Fleet does inspections. They change the oil, check the brakes [.…] The maintenance of the vehicles is Fleet’s responsibility.”
One of the key components of the “unsatisfactory” CHP report was negligence of timely inspections. According to the report, all nine of the vehicles were past due for inspections meant to take place every six months or 6,000 miles. Additionally, one loop bus driver was driving without a valid Commercial Driver’s License.
Robert Berkstresser, commercial bus safety expert and CEO of Commercial Bus Consult LLC, said heavy duty buses last around 15-25 years, but could have a longer shelf life with a “robust” maintenance program and regularly conducted inspections.
“I think they have to take a hard look at their maintenance program, who’s working on the buses, what they are doing, and assess it from there,” Berkstresser said. “If there’s a systemic problem in the maintenance, it doesn’t matter if you have a brand new bus.”
Moving Forward
According to Fleet Manager Theo Diamantopoulos, their goal is to reinspect their shuttles and maintenance program in May and earn a “satisfactory” rating. According to Henderson, TAPS will work to improve transparency, including hosting another Town Hall in May.
Nonetheless, students continue to band together to demand accountability from UCSC Transportation and see where over $9 million in transit fees go every year. The Student Union Governance Board (SUGB) is trying to get a referendum on the campus ballot that would incorporate more student voices in TAPS operations.
Kyle Vergara, Vice-Chair of the SUGB, gave a speech at the Dream It, Build It, Organize Our Power event on April 16 about student concerns regarding TAPS; over fifty attendees at the event cheered in agreement with his sentiments.
“The biggest problem with TAPS that we’ve seen this year […] is that they do not listen. They don’t hear our anger, they don’t hear our fear, they don’t hear our dissatisfaction,” Vergara said. “If you are going to pay, you must have a say.”
