VCU’s new buses: overly costly or valuable service

Phil Cunningham
Guest Contributor

Last week, VCU revealed their new bus fleet. It’s a new privatized charter run by Groome Transportation, a company founded in Richmond back in the 1930s. It’s a transition for VCU, as they’ve been been using the city’s Greater Richmond Transit Company buses since 2004.

But what are the implications of these changes?

To lay the groundwork, we’ve got a local company taking the college students off a few public buses, freeing GRTC to enhance or extend other routes. Groome, as many students might already know, is a quality shuttle service, based in airport travel, but boasting military licensing as well. That’s not to mention their service to seven universities in Virginia now with the addition of VCU. The seats are cushioned, the drivers are professional and VCU’s logo is absolutely everywhere.

One of the most user-friendly features is the RAMRIDE bus locator, a Google-based map with three layers of the Campus Connector, Medical Center, and Sanger routes. Connection points are plotted with the estimated time of arrival of buses en route. There’s also a search bar with the connection points already cached, as well as a mobile app.

All of these additional features allow for a more comfortable experience for students, particularly in the coming winter months.

But despite all these innovations and upgrades, there’s no guarantee that GRTC will or even can improve or expand its routes for the rest of the city to compete with Groome’s buses.

Furthermore, the introduction of VCU buses serve to further remove and isolate students from both the real world and the city. It creates a distinction, either that students are better than other at-large transit users, or that it is a continuation of the K-12 school bus system of shuttling children and young adults between two relative points.

As a VCU student, I’m concerned about the cost: how is this all being paid for? New buses with amenities, soon to come upgrades and private drivers? That has to cost quite a bit. Is it coming from previous tuition increases and will future increases be directed towards maintaining this transportation system?

I can’t help but wonder if this whole thing is indicative of a larger trend; the privatization of public services. Let us not forget that VCU is a public institution, despite quite a few of their practices. It’s not the buses themselves that bother me, but rather, the dynamics of policy and underlying power.

For a university that touts itself for being actively engaged with the city, it’s odd that they would hire a private company to shuttle students about, separating students from the typical city dweller and elevating students by placing them on buses that are more comfortable than the city buses.

Quite a few different groups stand to gain from this, but the real question is, who is going to lose?