by The Cowl Editor on November 30, 2017
Campus
by Sarah Gianni ’18
News Staff
For most Providence College students, a few options come to mind for traveling off campus. There is the RIPTA that makes its daily rounds passing through lower campus, delivering students to destinations like the Providence Place Mall and downtown Providence. Apps such as Lyft or Uber are easy for students to split with friends, a cheap and efficient way to get to your desired location. However, some students may be unaware of a totally free method of transportation available to them right on campus: PC shuttle services. “The shuttle service is run though the Transportation Office, but we do hire an outside company that operates the shuttles,” said Transportation Office Graduate Assistant Hannah Higgins. “Students can directly communicate with the company through our website or over the phone, and either show up at the designated time or schedule a time for pick up.”
Shuttle services are available for students Sunday through Thursday from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. They also run Friday through Saturday from 6 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. The Office of Transportation also provides shuttles used by PC drivers. “These specific shuttles are used for service learning or practicums, with about 50 students a day using that service,” said Higgins.
Students who wish to use the neighborhood shuttle service are picked up every 45 minutes from the front of Raymond Hall, or at another pre-designated time. “I used the shuttle service my freshman year to travel to Target,” said Sydney Legagneur ’19. “The driver waited while I shopped, and actually came into the store to help people who didn’t know how to navigate the store.”
Standard drop-off and pick up locations for the shuttle include Shaw’s Supermarket in North Providence, CVS on Admiral Street, the PC Annex, Golden Crust Pizza, the Shell Station on Admiral Street, and PC Food Mart. “During my sophomore year I took the shuttle to Shaw’s Supermarket,” said Maeve Mulderry ’18. “While I had a good experience, I would have never known about the shuttle if it wasn’t for my friend, and I wish more was publicized about it.”
Tunde Johnson ’18 said she felt similarly regarding knowledge about the shuttle. “I never knew that a shuttle service on campus existed,” she said. “I feel as though it had never been publicized to me during my time at PC.” While the Office of Transportation intermittently has tables on campus to publicize the shuttle, they are working on more campus exposure. “Currently our office does not have any social media pages, but next semester we’re going to work on expanding our marketing a little more,” said Higgins. Any student interested in getting more information on PC shuttle or other transportation services can go visit the transportation site at https://friarsprovidence.sharepoint.com/transportation.