Under the old system, three buses ran on one continuous loop from campus to downtown and back, Emily Nations, director of the Parking and Transportation Student Association committee, said. Students would have to wait from 20 to 35 minutes to catch a shuttle under the old system, and they were not using it because of the inconsistencies.
“We want to be a service students want to use, and it’s a service that protects our community, protects us and increases safety,” Nations said.
Under the new system, a Maroon Route shuttle comes about every seven to 10 minutes, and the White Route arrives about every 15 minutes, incoming SA President Rhett Hobart said.
“We wanted to ensure that we were providing the best possible service to the MSU Student Body, and we saw a major need to improve the efficiency and speed of the route,” Hobart said.
SA officials tried various methods to decrease wait time, and the solution they agreed on was a two-route system with a central meeting point, Hobart said.
“By creating two separate routes which join at a central hub, we are able to make the route run more efficiently while increasing the dependability and safety of the entire system,” Hobart said.
The routes converge at Fraternity Row. The Maroon Route stops at the Cotton District, Mugshots, Grumpy’s, Rick’s Cafe and Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern. The White Route goes to Sorority Row No. 1 and No. 2, Rice/Cresswell/Hathorn, Colvard Student Union, Zacharias Village, Sessums/McKee, Campus Trails and 21 Apartments.
Hannah Smith, sophomore political science major, said split routes is her favorite thing about the new system because it is more convenient.
“It doesn’t take as long. You get to where you want to go in less than ten minutes,” Smith said.
Fraternity Row was chosen as the central meeting point for multiple reasons. The number of riders was the highest both on and off the shuttle there. It is centrally located compared to the other stops. Also, it is a covered shuttle stop so people can be inside when it is cold, Hobart said.
Under the new shuttle system, the buses begin running at 9:30 p.m.
“We want to make sure we are the best stewards of the students’ money, so we cut out the 6:30 to 9:30 route, and now the system runs from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. [on the weekend],” Hobart said. “On Thursdays, it’s from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.”
Cutting out the route before 9:30 p.m. has made the system more cost efficient compared to the old Night Route, Nations said.
The Downtown Dawg can now be tracked online at transit.msstate.eduto see when the next bus will arrive. Students can also see how much room is available on the arriving bus before it reaches their stop.
As of right now, there are no definite plans to add more stops because the system is so new, Hobart said. SA will be evaluating the Downtown Dawg this semester to see if any changes need to be made.
The SA Committee for Parking and Transportation has been trying to get the message across that the new system is reliable and safe.
“We wanted to rebrand it as this new system so we made a new logo, a new name, a whole new system, and we’re [promoting] it as that,” Hobart said.
Nations and Hobart both said they want to hear student feedback about what they think of the new shuttle system.
“We encourage students to let us know ways in which they feel the route could be improved further, and we will do our best to make those suggestions happen,” Hobart said.
