Augusta University
Eric Johnson
Dr. Mark Allen Poisel, vice president for enrollment and student affairs, has made it clear that Undergraduate Move-In Day isn’t just about moving students into Jaguar Park.
“It’s about more than just the residence halls,” he said. “It’s what those residence halls allow us to do that we’ve not been able to do before.”
At the top of the list is the creation of a new transportation system built to move the 400 undergraduates living in Oak Hall on the Health Sciences Campus to their classes on the Summerville Campus.
Starting Aug. 17, the Red Route, which is the current intercampus route, and the Blue Route, which now services the Forest Hills Campus, University Village and the Summerville Campus, will combine into a new super route called the Teal Route.
The Teal Route will have four buses running continuously from 7 a.m.–11 p.m. Monday–Thursday and from 7 a.m.–6 p.m. on Friday.
“That gives us a bus hitting each stop every 10–12 minutes,” said Karl Munschy, director of auxiliary services.
And in case too many students hit the snooze alarm before their 8 a.m. classes, the Teal Express Route will be available from 7–8 a.m. every morning to handle the backlog. That’s one extra bus dedicated to getting students to Summerville during the peak travel time.
Oak Hall residents headed to classes will be dropped off at Allgood Hall, while those returning to Jaguar Park will board at University Hall.
To keep riders from wondering if their bus is coming, the SmartTraxx mobile app, downloadable from any app store, allows riders to see exactly where the buses are in real time.
“You have to know that bus is coming, so the app really helps with that,” he said.
Though the legacy buses will start off the year, by fall, a brand-new fleet will be in operation. The buses will each have up to 32 seats, be wheelchair accessible, and they’ll be wrapped with new Augusta University graphics.
“This is going to be a dramatic improvement to have brand-new buses with great technology on them,” Munschy said.
Staff
