Four years ago, six Beaver Bus routes transported students around campus free of charge. Now, there are only three routes, and students are caught in the rain or the dark, wishing they had a bus to ride.
Before COVID-19, six routes and at least 12 drivers helped the students of Oregon State University move around campus safely and quickly. The lockdown reduced the number of routes and drivers needed.
Cliff Lewis, a current Beaver Bus driver, said, “I know there used to be more routes, and the (cuts) put them out of work…At least three drivers were laid off due to the cuts.”
OSU Transportation Services is currently focused on “recovering from the national and regional driver shortage and increasing capacity on the existing routes,” said Sara Hamilton, transportation services outreach coordinator.
While OSU Transportation Services added a route connecting OSU with Linn Benton Community College’s Corvallis Campus. Hamilton said their goal is to recover from the national and regional driver shortage and increase capacity on existing routes.
Lewis explained that he frequently receives complaints from students that buses do “not run long enough,” stranding students who have late-night testing to find another way back to their cars or dorms.
“(Students have to) walk all the way to where you used to go (by bus), but now you can’t get there anymore,” Lewis said.
An OSU student, Garrett Conley, has had an excellent overall experience on the buses, but he also thinks “that sometimes they do end too early,” referring to the 7 p.m. final stop.
Extending the hours of the bus availability would not only help the students once the sun has set, but Lewis also mentioned that “realistically, if they could run it longer, we could all have a full-time job instead of a part-time one.”
Lupe Macintosh, a student who rode the Beaver Bus before the route reduction, agrees that the 15-20 minute wait time is too long and suggests that “more buses should be running on the same route.”
Lisa Mwewa and Macy Adams, first-year students, ride the bus to get all around campus, not just to and from classes.
“Bring them back; we love the bus!” Mwewa said when asked about their thoughts on the reduced bus routes.
Even though they love the bus services, Adams said they wish there were more buses.
“Sometimes the two buses are right behind each other, and then it is not a five-minute wait. It is a 20 minute wait for both buses,” Mwewa said.