BOZEMAN — I hopped on the all-new Cat Tracks shuttle service at Montana State University—but what do students think of this new mode of transportation?
I asked Kate, an MSU freshman, “Do you think it’s going to be helpful for students around campus?” She told me, “I think it will. Me personally, I like to walk. But I know some people that won't be excited to walk, especially during the winter."
Students seemed pretty excited about the new Cat Tracks shuttle service. But, why?
A sophomore named Jay told me, “I actually didn’t get a parking pass. So the new service definitely will help."
And junior Caroline told me, “The parking at MSU is not the best, I would say. Especially with all the new buildings going up, there's a lot less parking available."
Which is what inspired this new shuttle service.
“We’ve seen the groundbreakings for Gianforte Hall and Jones Hall. And those are placed on old parking lots. As campus development has pushed some of our parking out to the exterior portions of campus, we have found a need to help provide a convenient transportation method,” says Michael Becker, an MSU spokesperson.
Becker tells me this year, Montana State is relying on parking lots such as the Stadium Lot, which now has an additional 450 spots after the paving project that occurred over the summer. This shuttle service helps pick up students from farther away areas such as the Stadium Lot, and bring them right to the heart of campus.
The shuttle service runs continuously from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays through two routes, according to Becker. The Gold route circles the main campus area, and the Blue route traverses the western portion of campus.
Becker says another inspiration for the shuttle service is safety.
“Obviously, minimizing the number of times any pedestrian has to cross the street to get from a parking lot to their class is a good thing,” he says.
So, how has this shuttle been doing so far? The first bus set out last Wednesday, Aug. 21. Since then?
“The top day so far was last Friday. We saw about 200 people riding it. But we're seeing, you know, upwards of about 100 people a day on average, probably more than that,” says Becker.
And I spoke to one of those riders. Austin is a senior in Chemical Engineering.
I asked him how convenient the shuttle system has been. Austin told me, “It’s been great for me. I had back surgery over the summer, so this has been a real life-saver in terms of cutting down on the walking."
Students can download the Passio Go app to see the status of the Cat Tracks shuttles.
