A recent post on the GoCentroBus social media account forwards users to a page regarding changes in the bus routes’ service. With closer inspection, those changes are actually major shifts for the free on-campus shuttle buses, the Blue and Green routes, that serve SUNY Oswego.
Centro, officially the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority, is the public transit agency that includes the SUNY Oswego campus and the surrounding City of Oswego in its jurisdiction. The Blue and Green routes operated by Centro are sponsored by the Office of Auxiliary Services, solely via the Student Association Fee on every student’s bill. Auxiliary Services also convenes a committee of college administrators prior to the start of the academic year to establish the timing and frequency of shuttle bus services, which includes Victoria Furlong, vice president for Administration and Finance and vice president of Student Services, Kathleen Kerr.
The Blue route is the loop around SUNY Oswego’s main campus. Stops include residence halls, academic buildings and other important points of interest. This includes Oneida and Onondaga Halls, Penfield Library and Marano Campus Center, Shineman Center, Lakeside Hall, and Mary Walker Health Services. Blue route buses usually stop every 20 minutes.
The Green route goes from Marano Campus Center to the Oswego State Lakers athletic complex as well as Rice Creek Field Station. There are also stops along Fifth and Sixth Avenues, as well as State Route 104. Green route buses complete the route every half-hour.
Possible problems with the recent cuts include still not having much of a weekend service. Currently the Blue route is the only option on weekends and it does not operate after 12 noon. The changes made by Auxiliary Services for Centro are now slashing the entire 7 a.m. hour on the Blue route Monday to Friday. This route will now start at 8 a.m. They have also changed the Green route’s operations to 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. It runs from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays only. The exception is Rice Creek, where the last buses depart for and leave from there during 7 p.m.
“Centro is okay, and I like the idea that there’s a loop around campus because it’s pretty big,” Angela Xu, a freshman at SUNY Oswego, said. “That’s really convenient for not-so-nice weather like rain or snow. It can be improved on, as in more frequent service, because 20 minute intervals are nice to remember, but the waits are long if you miss one.”
Despite the changes, the lack of service for Green route on late nights and Saturdays would still be an impediment for SUNY Oswego students to attend special events and Lakers athletic games. Saturdays are common for home games for athletics and late nights are important for Rice Creek and the SUNY Oswego astronomy department’s telescope observation sessions.
Last week in the “Oswego Today” newsletter, it was revealed in a report by the Office of Communications and Marketing that ridership has continued to decline when compared to the last few academic years. The college keeps incurring net losses when operating the shuttle loops. Administrators cited low usage during morning hours on the Blue route and for most of the day on the Green route, overcrowded buses going to West Campus, and the varying schedules of classes and events at Rice Creek. According to Furlong, “We gladly incur this transportation cost given it provides an important service to our students.”
Photo via The Oswegonian
