By Emily Coverstone
Earlier this year, Purdue Fort Wayne began a new pilot program that is making traveling to campus easier, warmer, faster, and drier for students who live in the apartment complexes around and on campus. This week, the university announced that the program is being renewed for another year.
The program, nicknamed ‘Purduber’, began in January with rides offered on weekdays Monday through Thursday from 8:15 a.m. to 7:15 p.m., and on Fridays from 8:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., with 15-minute increments in between.
“The SGA officers had received a lot of feedback from students that they were in need of transportation to and from campus,” said Abbey Wang, coordinator of student leadership and the Student Government Association. “We had also heard this from several concerned staff and faculty members in a division meeting over the summer.”
Not only will transportation be offered throughout campus, but another service will be offered for students to go to Kroger, 4120 N. Clinton, which will begin at 1:35 p.m. on Fridays. To be eligible for the trip to the store, students must sign up.
“We wanted to include a weekly trip to Kroger because we had many staff and faculty give feedback that many international students don’t have a free way to travel to the grocery store to get the things they need,” Wang said.
Space on the Kroger shuttle is currently limited to the first seven students who reserve a spot each week. Yet, with the limited space, according to Wang, the program has had good numbers so far, averaging 30 passengers a day per route and approximately 90 passengers a day in total.
Current Pick-up and Drop-off locations are located at the clubhouses at Student Housing, St. Joe Place, The Arch, and Canterbury Green. On campus, students can choose to be picked up or dropped off outside of Walb Student Union under the Skybridge.
To make it easier to find, there are A-Frame signs with shuttle information for students to identify where and when they will be picked up. For the purpose of the shuttle program, the drivers will only shuttle to and from the housing complexes to Walb, with no stops in between.
“There is potential for this to change, should we continue the program in the future,” Wang said. “But, for now, we are focusing on getting students to and from campus safely and warmly in these Indiana Winters!”