After a semester of inactivity, the Night Route shuttle system will resume Thursday.
The Night Route, which began shuttling students to off-campus locations on weekends nearly a year ago, will focus more on the core of the city, SA executive assistant Seth Stephenson said.
In 2004, two different routes ran to the downtown area and on Miss. Highway 12 to Wal-Mart, respectively.
The new shuttle route will begin at 7 p.m. at the shuttle stop on Fraternity Row, Stephenson said.
The Student Association will release a schedule of stop times after the Night Route has run for about a week. They are waiting in order to make sure that stop times are correct.
“We need to run the bus probably with some people in it before we can know for sure,” Stephenson said.
“We’re running two shuttles, so it’s going to reduce wait time,” he said. “This year, instead of having two routes with one shuttle apiece we’re going to have one route with two shuttles.”
Because of the change, waiting time this semester is expected to be no more than 15 minutes, SA president Adam Telle said. Last spring, 30-minute waits were common.
Stops at and near many apartment complexes will also increase the convenience of the Night Route.
The shuttles will travel to the downtown area, then cross Miss. Highway 12, stopping at Harvey’s and The Veranda before returning to campus, Stephenson said.
The Student Association plans to hold a kickoff during the second week that the Night Route runs. “We will be having a grand opening the next Thursday,” Telle said.
He added that plans are still in the works but include music, food and incentives from sponsors.
The night route is sponsored by Starkville businesses and utilizes MSU’s shuttles, Telle said.
“This year’s Night Route is very important with our relationship with the city,” SA Attorney General Jon David Cole said.