1,800 use UA bus over break

College students may have assumed they saw their last school bus in high school.

But 1,766 students once again boarded a bus over winter break, when the Undergraduate Assembly provided a free shuttle to the airport.

The buses -- which ran from Friday, Dec. 16 to Thursday, Dec. 22 before winter break and between Saturday, Jan. 7 and Monday, Jan. 9 at the end of the break -- left every hour or half hour depending on the number of students leaving each day. The schedule was based on a survey sent to students before break by the UA asking when students would use the service.

"I think we did a good job of estimating when there would be more demand," UA Chairwoman and College senior Rachel Fersh said.

Some students said they had difficulty locating the bus at the airport, however.

An e-mail sent to students from the UA said the bus going from the airport to campus after winter break would pick up students in the outside lane of Terminal C, not in the commercial lane. In fact, the bus had to go to the commercial lane due to airport regulations.

Finding the bus "was an adventure," Wharton junior Stephanie Williams said. "The taxi dispatcher was very helpful. If it weren't for her, I don't think many people would have found it."

The bus driver, Robert Bell, had to go inside the baggage claim looking for Penn students since they did not know where to find the bus.

"It's a good service," Bell said. "But there must be a better way to have the students find the bus at the airport."

The buses were made available by Penn Transit at cost, meaning that the transit service made no profit. The UA received some funding for the initiative from the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, although no exact cost is yet available, according to Rhea Lewis, a Business Services spokeswoman.

"The one change that may be made is that we may start charging a small fee," Fersh said. "But that fee would be under $5."

When it was offered before Thanksgiving break, the service attracted about 700 students over two days. About 1,800 students took advantage before winter break.

College sophomore Lucy Maddox, who took the bus before Thanksgiving as well as before winter break, noted that it seemed more crowded in November, when the service was only offered hourly.

"Over Thanksgiving I had to arrive about 20 minutes before to get on the bus," Maddox said. "They seemed to work it out by the second go-around."

When the bus ran every half hour, two buses were in service at once. When the bus ran hourly, only one was used.

The peak day for the service was Dec. 21 -- the last day of final examinations -- when 600 students rode the shuttle.

"This is something that the UA approached us about, so if they see it as something that has value, then we'll work with them to provide service for future breaks," Lewis said. "From our perspective, it was a success because the buses were full."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.