Unitrans will use $90,000 starting this summer to shuttle people from the center of campus to downtown in collaboration with the Davis Downtown Business Association.
Due to the closure of the ASUCD Coffee House, U-DASH’s purpose is to get hungry students, faculty and staff quickly from campus to downtown for lunch.
In a city that prides itself on its record bicycle usage people should use their bikes to go downtown. They also have the option to walk, skateboard, scooter, hop, skip or jump their way downtown. Campus itself is quite large: Walking or biking downtown from Shields Library would not be too different than walking or biking to the Silo, where there is also food available, including the newly re-opened Gunrock Pub.
Adding these extra shuttles will also add unnecessary emissions into the air, contributing to pollution and other ill-effects. UC Davis is well known as a “green” campus. Adding this service will not comply with that notion.
While securing funds for this project comes at no additional cost to students, taking out an unnecessary $90,000 in a time when the budget is so tight, seems unfounded. These funds could be used toward another project, such as improving the Tipsy Taxi service so that students do not drink and drive – not so that students can go get lunch.
Unitrans already provides buses that travel downtown on a daily basis, for free. While the shuttle will be free during the summer, after August 3, the fare will increase to $1, adding an extra cost to students.
According to Googlemaps.com, from the Memorial Union to Crepeville, on Third Street, walking takes approximately 12 minutes. Shuttles come every 10 minutes. If a person misses the bus and has to wait 10 extra minutes for the next shuttle, for only two extra minutes of their time, they can get to downtown faster than a shuttle.
