Over the past two years, Camosun College has provided a shuttle-bus service to students, faculty, and staff for access between the Lansdowne and Interurban campuses. It’s the Camosun Express, and it’s going to be up and running again in September.
Camosun College Transportation and Parking operations assistant Darcy Neu says the shuttle-bus project was initiated as a way to reduce the number of cars travelling between campuses.
“Part of the transportation demand management plan and the sustainability plan was to try and look at alternative transportation and then also to reduce the demand for parking,” says Neu, “so the shuttle bus serves both those purposes; that was definitely a bonus in getting it here as a service offered.”
Camosun College Student Society external executive Rachael Grant is a Camosun student who relies on the shuttle bus; she says that although there is a public bus that services that route, the Camosun Express is a much easier way to get between campuses.
“The student society does a lot of advocacy around transit, and [the shuttle bus] has actually been one of our speaking points when we are lobbying for higher-quality transit for students,” says Grant. “Our transit system is lacking in ways that Camosun has stepped up, and [Camosun] created a bus to bridge that gap that should be filled by a public service but isn’t.”
Even though the shuttle offers an easy way to travel between campuses, Grant has noted how unused the service is at times.
“It’s often a fairly empty bus,” says Grant. “There are definitely students who regularly use it and benefit, so that’s cool. I feel like if more people knew about it, they would use it. It’s difficult to communicate to all students that this service exists, but I definitely see some folks using it on a fairly regular basis and benefiting because taking [BC Transit route] number 8 can be less convenient.”
This lack of ridership is not lost on Neu, who says she is working hard this year to get information about the shuttle bus out there to potential riders.
“This year, ultimately, what we want to do is have it being utilized by anyone who can use it, especially during those off-peak times,” says Neu. “It would be great to have people realizing that it’s there. I know that in the past, from what I’ve heard, some people didn’t know about it, so we are really wanting to get the word out.”
This year’s schedule has not been finalized, but Neu says that students, staff, and faculty will indeed again have the shuttle service to look forward to.
“Last year, it started in September and then went until the late spring and then just followed the Camosun calendar,” says Neu. “This year, it will certainly be running in September; we’re just finalizing times.”
Since it launched in September of 2014, the Camosun Express has provided service to 17,439 riders, according to the college.
General information on the shuttle and the finalized schedule, when it’s ready, will be available at camosun.ca/about/transportation-parking/camosun-express.