The campus circulator shuttle pulls up to the stop in front of Mallinckrodt Center. The campus circulator schedule was recently changed, now going in 20-minute cycles instead of 16-minute cycles. (Kivanç Dundar | Student Life)

The Washington University campus circulator began following a revised timetable this week, after shuttle drivers and students raised concerns about the reliability of its schedule. The circulator bus, which previously ran every 16 minutes, will now run every 20 minutes, according to Stephanie Hunter, transportation operations supervisor in Parking and Transportation Services.

The new schedule, which went into effect Monday, allows drivers additional time to complete the route. Recent construction on the South 40 and Highway 40 has led to increased traffic congestion and made it harder for drivers to adhere to the previous timetable.

The shuttle drivers initially raised their concerns to Huntleigh Shuttleport, the company that provides the campus circulator, which then notified Hunter. Two weeks after Hunter was contacted by Huntleigh, she heard similar comments from junior Greg Schweizer, outgoing chair of the SU Campus Services Committee (C-Serve). Members of the committee had noted concerns about the reliability of the circulator.

“[The committee] decided that the priorities should be reliability over speed, so we suggested [to Hunter] that if it means making it a 20-minute interval instead of 16, it’s better if it’s reliable, even if it’s a little bit more time between stops,” Schweizer said of his committee’s recommendation.

Huntleigh tested the new timetable prior to implementing it, and “the drivers seem very happy with that,” Hunter said.

Freshman Candace Armour, who was not familiar with the old timetable, said, “[The circulator] can be reliable sometimes. I think it runs every 20 minutes.”

Sam Coster, a sophomore familiar with the old timetable, said the circulator used to deviate from the old schedule by three to four minutes, “which can be kind of a pain.”

Schweizer noted the importance of reliability as winter approaches.

“I know that students like to use the campus circulator when it gets snowy outside, and I don’t want to see any student waiting five, 10 minutes for a bus that doesn’t come and being late to class,” he said.

Members of C-Serve will be riding the circulator in the coming weeks to ensure compliance with the new timetable. The timetable has been updated on the Parking and Transportation Services Web site, and Hunter hopes residential advisors will disseminate the information to their residents.

Hunter also conducts periodic ride checks, but she noted that student feedback is the best way to raise concerns. She urged students to call or e-mail Parking and Transportation with complaints, saying, “Huntleigh is really pretty good about responding to our concerns, and I just want to know what’s going on so we can put the best product out there.”

Hunter checked with the Huntleigh supervisor following implementation of the new schedule, and she said that “drivers are liking the schedule and are making all of their time points right on schedule.”

The campus circulator provides service to the South 40, Mallinckrodt Center, the Skinker MetroLink station and the Millbrook Garage, adjacent to the Village. At present, there are no plans to revise the circulator schedule further, according to Hunter.

The Green Line is operated by Metro and will not be affected.

Due to lack of communication regarding the construction on the 40, there were (and currently are) only two plausible ways of walking to campus. One route is between JKL and Lee, and the other route is all the way around the Wohl parking garage. The first method is very dangerous, filled with puddles and freshmen, while the second route makes me understand how it felt to get from New York to California by ship before the Panama Canal was built. As the first few days of classes were not conducive to trekking, the sweltering heat at 10 in the morning made my journey feel more grueling than Frodo’s. Clayco’s answer to this problem was to build a series of temporary stairs like mazes between construction zones, which of course can lead you nowhere.

My experiences with bicycles this semester have not been good. I first tried borrowing one from a friend, and it ended up being similar to a deathtrap. Due to a lack of maintenance (and usage), the back brakes are nonfunctional, the seat is loose, the tires are flat and the front wheel is pulling to the right. I nearly died the first time I rode it. I was wise enough to grit my teeth and buy my own.

The final method I chose to use was the campus circulator. My experiences with it have been nothing short of terrifying, hilarious and maddening. On some occasions, the driver tries to eliminate the waiting time per stop delay, and you better get out of the way in those moments. It does not matter what race, gender or disabilities you have, pray you can jump out of its path. Last year, as my friend and I were riding the bus, the driver rocketed around the turn from Wallace Drive into Mallinckrodt, and two poor students had the misfortune of not walking on the sidewalk. The driver came up from behind and honked his horn menacingly. One of the kids probably had to change his pants, and the other exhibited “deer in the headlights” characteristics. On another occasion, it was a bitter winter morning and there was a long line at the Clocktower. Students were frozen, praying for the campus circulator. He came a little early, but kids gratefully clambered aboard. All the kids had boarded, and we noticed a kid on crutches limping toward the bus. The bus driver proceeded to invoke the Pirates’ Code: Those who fall behind get left behind. The kid started to move faster but was left in the snow. I can’t help laughing as I write this, but it sure would have sucked to be that kid.

A note to the freshmen: Wash. U. is not a large campus, but when it is snowing and 2 degrees below zero, your dorm seems like miles away. In general, I suggest bikes as the best method of transportation. Walking isn’t bad if you aren’t in a rush, but if you are really late or if it is raining, take a deep breath, and pray the campus circulator stops for you.

Due to the lack of communication regarding the construction on the South 40, there are only two plausible ways of walking to campus. One route is between JKL and Lee and the other route is all the way around the Wohl Parking Garage. The first method is very dangerous, filled with puddles and freshmen, while the second route makes me understand how it felt to go from New York to California before the Panama Canal was built. The first few days of classes were not conducive to trekking, and the sweltering heat at 10 in the morning made my journey feel more grueling than Frodo’s. I still feel that Clayco should have left a path from the Wohl Center to the Clocktower open.

My experiences with bicycles this semester have not been good. My suitemate’s bike is nothing short of a death trap. Due to lack of maintenance (and usage), the back brakes were nonfunctional, the seat was loose, the tires were flat and the front wheel was pulling to the right. I nearly died the first time I rode it. I was wise enough to leave it alone.

The final method I chose to use was the campus circulator. My experiences with that have been nothing short of terrifying, hilarious and maddening. On some occasions, the driver tries to eliminate the waiting time delay per stop, and you’d better get out of the way in those moments. It does not matter what race, gender or disabilities you have; pray you can jump out of the way in time.

Last year, my friend and I were riding the bus, and the driver rocketed around the turn from Wallace Drive into the Mallinckrodt parking lot. Two poor students had the misfortune of not walking on the sidewalk. The driver came up from behind and honked his horn menacingly. One of the kids probably had to change his pants, and the other exhibited “deer in the headlights” characteristics. On another occasion, it was a bitter winter morning and there was a long line at the Clocktower. Kids were frozen, praying for the campus circulator. He came a little earlier, but kids gratefully clambered aboard. All the kids had boarded, and we noticed a kid on crutches limping toward the bus. Guess what happened next. Bus driver invoked the Pirates’ Rule: Those who fall behind get left behind. The kid started to move faster but was left in the snow. I can’t help laughing as I write this, but it did suck to be that kid that time.

A note to the freshmen: Wash. U. is not a large campus, but when it is snowing and two degrees below zero, your dorm seems like miles away. In general, I suggest using bikes as the best method of transportation. Walking isn’t bad if you aren’t in a rush, but if you are really late or if it is raining, take a deep breath and pray the campus circulator stops for you.

Oh, and remember to register to vote.