It’s 1:35 p.m. on the Portland campus and Lauren Rioux is freaking out.
The senior music major needs to get to Gorham for class, but her only hope just pulled out of the parking lot without her. And about 20 others.
Rioux and a large group of students got to the bus stop a couple minutes past 1 p.m. She didn’t think she’d have any problems because the bus wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1:15 p.m. She was wrong.
The bus driver said the bus was full and wouldn’t allow anyone to stand. He said another bus would be by in a couple minutes. Rioux waited 20. None came.
And because the buses run every 45 minutes instead of more frequently, as was done in previous years, Rioux won’t get out of Portland until past 3 p.m.
“I had a class at 2 and now I’m screwed,” she said.
Rioux is one of the growing numbers of students who depends on the shuttle buses between Portland and Gorham this semester. The University encouraged students to utilize the shuttle buses whenever possible because of the dramatic loss of parking spaces on the Portland campus.
Things were messy during the first few weeks.
Andy Rice, another senior music major who missed Rioux’s bus, said the University should do more to make sure students can fit on the shuttles.
“Considering the number of students having to commute because of the new parking situation, this isn’t enough,” he said. Instead of running two buses on the same schedule, Rice suggested running them at 20-minute intervals.
Dewey Ferguson, parking and transportation manager for the USM Police, said there were some shuttle problems during the first few weeks, but now things are going well.
“We have had a couple instances with new drivers missing a run because of being confused,” he said. “Wherever we’ve had complaints we’ve tried to correct that.”
The University decided to run an extra bus during peak times to alleviate potential overcrowding problems.
Ferguson said bus drivers are instructed to allow up to five students to stand when necessary, but that it’s inevitably the driver’s decision.
“In the end, if the driver feels like it’s unsafe for people to stand, it’s his call,” he said. “It’s really up to the drivers.”
Craig Hutchinson, vice president for Student and University Life, said complaints have been low and the early numbers indicate most students aren’t having problems with the shuttle buses.
“According to the numbers, there has been no situation where anyone would have had to be left behind due to a full bus,” said Hutchinson. “Overall, based on the first few days, I think the plan is working.”
Ferguson said he received four complaints about the shuttle buses this semester.
Sophomore psychology major Audrey Moore said she used to drive back and forth between the campuses. This is her first semester using the shuttle bus. She was stranded at the Woodbury Campus Center last Tuesday when a bus driver wouldn’t allow her to stand on a full bus.
“They tell us to make concessions, and we get screwed over,” she said as two of her friends, who also missed the bus, nodded.
Ferguson said there is plenty of parking and dependable shuttle service at the University’s other satellite parking lots on Portland’s Marginal Way and Sam’s Club in South Portland.
Steve Peoples can be contacted at [email protected]