The wheels on the bus go to Center City and back

A new bus shuttle service is bringing Center City a little closer to Penn - and many graduate students a little closer to home.

With promised funding from the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, Penn Transit began operating a trial shuttle Monday evening.

The shuttle, called the Octobus because of the month, aims to make commuting to Penn easier for graduate students who live east of campus.

The shuttle stops as far west as 38th and Walnut streets, travels along Chestnut to as far east as Broad Street and heads down to Lombard Street before looping back to campus.

It runs weekdays from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. and is free.

Graduate students have a real need for this service, especially when going home late at night, according to second-year MBA student Craig Isakow.

Isakow rode the shuttle Monday night to meet friends for dinner in Center City. He was the third passenger since the shuttle began at 6 p.m.

"The alternatives are to pay for an expensive taxi - walking home is a little dangerous- - or going up to Chestnut [Street] to catch the bus," he said. "The old system didn't seem to go where people lived."

GAPSA chairman Dan Grabell, also a second-year MBA student, said many grad students have moved further east in recent years.

With many students concerned about increasing crime rates around the Rittenhouse Square area, other efforts, such as extending Penn Transit service to Broad Street from its current boundary at 20th Street, have been made over the last three years to improve transportation.

Penn associate director for transportation Ron Ward noted that the University has typically determined the boundaries of Penn Transit.

GAPSA vice chairwoman of student life Kara Yokley, who is leading the Octobus effort, said the new shuttle service is "basically a data collection exercise to figure out what the real need is."

Getting those data, Grabell said, will "help us open up a bigger conversation with the University administration.

The Undergraduate Assembly is also hoping to contribute to the effort.

Although undergraduates have not been allowed to take the shuttle this week, the UA passed a measure earlier this week to endorse a co-sponsorship of the Octobus.

"I'm a huge proponent of Penn Transit in general," said Wharton and College junior Wilson Tong, the UA's vice chairman of external affairs.

Tong pointed out that the shuttle would encourage students to explore Philadelphia while helping those undergraduates living in Center City commute to campus.

GAPSA expects to approve the co-sponsorship tonight, so undergraduates should be allowed on the shuttle later this week.

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