The S.M.A.R.T. (Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit) buses have expanded their routes and added new buses to previous routes for the campus and the Starkville community area.
New routes are being created because of the growing demands from customers, and they are set to begin this upcoming fall.
According to Ronnie White, associate director of Parking and Transit Services at Mississippi State University, customer demand is examined throughout the year. During the grant application process, needed changes are then implemented. The grant application for the 2017-2018 school year was recently completed.
“During our grant application process every year is when we can make changes.  These changes will be a part of our program beginning fall 2017,” White said.
White said these new routes include East Lee Route. This will go from the Old Main Academic Center, which is a new classroom building, to The Retreat apartments. Another stop on that route will be along East Lee Boulevard. However, this location has not yet been determined.
A bus will also be added to the Highway 12 route. This change to Highway 12 means that there will not be just two buses running. 
The next change will be a combination of South Loop and the Sportsplex routes. These routes will be combining into one route and will have five buses on it. This new route was created to add efficiency and eliminate overlapping.
Lastly, the Old Main Academic Center will become the shuttle hub for the north side of campus. 
White believes these newly added routes and the newly added buses will benefit students at MSU. 
The new East Lee route should provide an additional route for students to use. More students will be able to catch the bus and get to where they need to go. In addition, the shuttle hub at the Old Main Academic Center will help students get closer to the center of campus. Finally, the combination of the Sportsplex and South Route will make things more efficient.
“By combining the Sportsplex and South Route and having five buses on it, it will increase our efficiency on this route,” White said.
At this time, there are no newly made buses. However, the S.M.A.R.T. has requested two new smaller buses. These buses will carry about 24 or 25 passengers only and will be used for the downtown routes.
“Currently we do not have any new buses,” White said. We have requested through the grant for two smaller 24/25 passenger buses that will be used on the down town routes.  These new buses will be more efficient for downtown traffic.  We will continue to use our 35 passenger.”
 
Students around school who were asked about the expanded routes had mostly the same reaction to the news. They did not know that new routes were going to be implemented, however they did seem pleased. 
Junior history major, Caleb Waller, said he had not heard there would be new S.M.A.R.T. bus routes added, but he was all for any positive changes being made.
“Okay, I’m going to be honest, I did not know we added new bus routes,” Waller said. “I didn’t take the bus a lot this semester. I used to take it every day last semester though. Honestly it seemed like they were always running behind, except for the Greek bus, so anything that helps with that is a positive.”
Theodore Morrison, junior secondary education major, said he was concerned with the number of buses. 
“I think it’s great that they are adding new bus routes but I think they should also work on making sure they have enough buses running the routes they already have,” Morrison said.