Almost 300 riders took advantage of the Night Route this weekend despite shuttles running later than expected.
The Night Route, a shuttle service that provides students free rides around Starkville on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, had a total of 285 riders, SA president Adam Telle said. “It’s a huge step in the right direction,” he added.
Arthur Douglas, who drives one of the Night Route shuttles, said at midnight Saturday, eight or nine students had ridden his shuttle that night, but the other nights had been busier. “Thursday night was a good night, Friday night was a fair night and tonight it’s kind of slow,” he said.
The Night Route ran later than the 15 or 20 minutes projected by the SA. On Saturday night, one shuttle took 50 minutes, between 11:33 and 12:23, to make the complete figure-eight loop. This suggests that a bus stops at each location along the route every 25 minutes.
“One thing we noticed last week was that the drivers were taking a little longer than they maybe should have at some stops,” SA attorney general Jon David Cole said. The SA plans on looking at ways to prevent delays, he said.
Douglas, who has driven school buses for 28 years, said keeping students safe is more important than being on schedule. “If you’re drinking, you ain’t supposed to be thinking,” he said.
“To drive this bus, you got to understand a drunk or a kid,” Douglas added.
Cole said choosing between services offered and time constraints is difficult. “It’s a hard thing to balance,” he said.
Douglas said he did not encounter any problems. “To me, it’s fun,” he said.
However, he said, one night a student who appeared inebriated fell onto the fire extinguisher near the door, causing foam to spray everywhere. Douglas had to change shuttles before resuming the route.
A kick-off party for the Night Route will be held Thursday from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in No Man’s Land, which is located on Fraternity Row across from the shuttle stop, Cole said.
“Former members of the band Planters Row, Cory Carter and Jeff Davis are going to be playing,” Telle said. Free pizza and drinks will also be provided, he said.
“I just challenge everybody to try it at least once,” Cole said.