In the aftermath of last year's Penn Transit dilemma involving a change in the University's public transportation offerings, some kinks still remain.
Two graduate schools continue to finance extended transportation options, and some students are not satisfied.
Last September, Penn Transit -- the business that handles free bus transportation for students extending as far as downtown Philadelphia -- decided to cut back transportation hours. This decision ended the bus runs at 1 a.m. rather than 3 a.m., and although several new stops were added in the West Philadelphia area, the service to Center City became much more limited.
This decision, which was based on student feedback, quickly caused a stir on campus, and a number of students in the School of Medicine complained that they had no transportation, since their work shifts ended after the new earlier bus hours.
"After the changes last year, there were several issues with the Medical School and the School of Design," Penn Transportation Manager Ron Ward said. "We soon entered a contract to provide additional transportation to the Center City area."
These two schools are responsible for footing the bill for the additional transportation. The contract expired over the summer, and both schools have elected to renew the program.
"Many students are required to be at clinical rotations at the hospital very late, and we wanted to make sure that they have safe transportation," Director of Student Affairs for the Medical School Barbara Wagner said.
According to Wagner, the new system involves hourly pick-ups at designated locations that take students into Center City and other areas in the same region.
However, some students argue that the new system is not as effective as the previous one.
"Part of the problem is that it only comes once an hour, and the locations of pick-ups are not well-known," President of the Medical School Government Samuel Applebaum said. "They sent out an e-mail detailing pick-up stops, and it's pretty much only the people that read the e-mail that know where the system runs."
Applebaum said that he used the old system, which used to run every 20 minutes as well as in the evenings and on weekends, and that many, including himself, have not utilized the new system.
"I know many students that still use the transportation," Applebaum continued, "but it is unfortunate for students who need a ride on the weekends or late at night."
