VCU to debut new buses Nov. 1

Sam Isaacs
Contributing Writer

Full-scale buses will replace the shuttles currently ferrying students between campuses starting Nov. 1, giving riders a much more spacious experience.

The Commonwealth Times reported in August that a fleet of Groome Transportation shuttle vans began running this summer, covering the Campus Connector routes and taking over from the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC). The current shuttles seat 34. The new buses will seat 59.

“VCU’s contract with GRTC ended June 30 so a few months earlier, we issued a Request for Proposal,” said Robin Mack of Parking and Transportation. A Request for Proposal is an invitation to private vendors to fulfill a specific need, which for VCU was a new
line of buses to take over all the campus stops.

“As a public agency, GRTC was not allowed to take part in the bidding,” said Joan Straszewski, GRTC’s public relations manager. “VCU compared the pricing responses to GRTC’s existing price, and decided to accept the proposal of a private vendor.”

VCU took bids from various companies for the opportunity and settled on Groome Transportation.

With the launch of the new buses, VCU will be working closer than ever with the fleet with hopes of offering students a greater sense of accessibility and convenience  “There will be GPS tracking on all the buses that allows students to use a phone app to track the buses and routes at all times,” Mack said.

Visually, the buses will sport custom branding, allow students to easily discern the campus buses from the white, grey and purple GRTC vehicles.
The buses will have a GPS unit built in so students can track the routes and bus locations at all times.

“The app is something I would definitely use,” said Iris Davis, a student and frequent Campus Connector rider.

The new fleet also offers a card reader, which reads and records every swipe a rider makes to get on the bus, giving the university an insight on route volume and frequency. This data gives the university insight into ride volume and frequency, which enables informed decisions to be made regarding the stops, Mack said.

Out of all the stops on campus, the Route 84-Campus Connector shuttles the highest volume of riders. The CT informally surveyed 40 random riders last Thursday and Friday (Sept. 6 and 7) and Tuesday, Sept. 11 about the new transit system. The CT asked a series of questions regarding the new busses. 25 out of 40 noticed a difference in the speed in which the buses arrived since the switch to Groome Transportation shuttles on July 1. 30 said they liked the idea of a smartphone app and would use it to track their routes. 15 were frustrated with the smaller sized vehicles and felt cramped on the ride between campuses, an issue that should be alleviated once the new, larger buses arrive in November.

Students will still be able to ride for free on any GRTC bus with the use of their VCU ID cards. This comes from a separate “swipe card” contract that VCU recently renewed.