Arizona State University’s downtown safety trolley returned for its second year with expanded services and later hours.
The Undergraduate Student Government Downtown approved the Sun Devil Express’ funding to continue offering a safe transportation option for students commuting throughout the downtown area.
At the beginning of the Fall 2015 semester, USGD approved a $36,000 measure to fund the Sun Devil Express, a $10,000 increase from last year’s funding.
With this increased funding for the 2015-2016 year, the shuttle service expanded its hours to 6:00 p.m. through 10:30 p.m. A route has been added on Sundays to take students from the downtown dorms to Safeway. These changes to the service are a response to last year’s low levels of ridership.
“It was underutilized last year,” said Kat Hofland, USGD Vice President of Services. Hofland is a major proponent of continuing the Sun Devil Express and said the service meets a need for the students.
Previously, the purpose of the service was to take commuter students from campus to parking lots. This year, the shuttle is making additional stops at Roosevelt Point and ASU’s Mercado building.
“This year is much more flexible,” Ryan Boyd, USGD vice president of policy said, attributing the increase in ridership to more comprehensive services and more strategic marketing. “(The shuttle) failed primarily because of the marketing and not because of the service.”
USGD has been more active in promoting the service to students this year and has seen ridership increase as a result.
“I’ve had students who got on (the shuttle) and said that they didn’t know about it,” said Elizabeth Soto, a driver for the Sun Devil Express. The Sun Devil Express is rented through Dunn Transportation, costing USGD $55 per hour.
USGD is working to raise awareness of the shuttle and promote student engagement in shaping the future of the service. A survey has been posted online to let riders inform USGD of changes they hope to see.
“We are going where the numbers tell us,” Boyd said.
The most students use the shuttle on Sunday’s route to Safeway, Boyd said. During the week, he said ridership is highest between Roosevelt Point and campus.
“If there’s another stop that students want, it will be included … to recommend to the senate,” Hofland said.
The collected feedback indicates that students want to see the shuttle running between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and to include stops on Roosevelt Row, according to Boyd and Hofland.
Contact the reporter at craig.r.johnson@asu.edu.
