Student bus drivers and administrators discuss operations this winter quarter
By JENEVAH HARRISON — features@theaggie.org
Each quarter, Unitrans, an ASUCD unit and student-run bus system at UC Davis, faces unique challenges in delivering reliable service to passengers while maintaining safety and comfort. Winter quarter 2025 has been no exception — but there have been notable improvements in service compared to prior quarters, according to student drivers and administrators.
Miles Henninger, a fourth-year environmental policy analysis and planning major and Unitrans driver, shared insights into the quarter’s performance so far, highlighting smoother operations and the introduction of service enhancements.
“Overall, I’d say it’s been pretty good so far, generally better than last quarter,” Henninger said. “We’ve increased frequencies on the J/V/W, which are some of the most busy lines, [spreading] passenger load out to more buses. We also have more drivers this quarter with people coming out of training, so that has also helped things run more smoothly.”
Despite the improvements, Henninger acknowledged lingering issues, particularly on high-traffic routes like the M and W lines.
“Even with the increased service, we sometimes still have issues, especially with the M/W lines and rush-hour traffic on 1st Street and on the I-80 overpass,” Henninger said. “But there isn’t much we can do about that without some pretty big changes to those lines.”
Olivia Doyle, a second-year anthropology major, described the issues she has experienced with bus punctuality this quarter.
“More often than not, my buses arrive late to the Silo and Memorial Union areas,” Doyle said.
Due to these delays, Doyle said that her commute to campus has increased from 10 minutes to over 30 minutes on several recent occasions. As a product of the added time, Doyle recounts being over 20 minutes late to some of her classes this quarter.
This issue can be demotivating for many students, including Doyle, as it results in unnecessary absences. Despite these setbacks, Unitrans has offered new solutions that may improve these delays.
One significant change this quarter was the increase in V line service. While beneficial overall, Henninger noted that implementing such changes comes with challenges.
“We’ve been tweaking the times and such over the past couple of weeks so that it flows better, and I feel that the current iteration is pretty smooth and has efficiently added a couple more buses each hour for passengers to use,” Henninger said.
The beginning of each quarter marks a transitional period for Unitrans, as new schedules and shifts are rolled out. Henninger explained that the winter quarter saw its share of adjustments but managed to avoid significant disruptions.
“The first week is usually a bit rough, especially since it’s before students start to skip their classes, so all the getting used to is accompanied with some of our heaviest passenger loads, although it didn’t seem too bad this quarter,” Henninger said.
Unitrans Operations Manager Joshua Feil shared additional context on the logistical challenges and successes of this quarter, highlighting the benefits of frequency increases on J, V and W lines.
“These lines have our highest ridership, so we’re excited to provide more service here and cut wait times by up to half,” Feil said. “For the J and W, we didn’t actually add any shifts or work hours to do this, we only rearranged existing shifts and added extra trips where there was previously downtime. This means these shifts are now more ‘dense’ and intensive on our drivers and conductors.”
Feil continued by sharing insight into a common problem, cascading delays, which can arise when drivers’ shifts are too close together.
“Packing shifts tighter brings the potential for an issue of ‘cascading delays,’ where delay on one trip bleeds over to the next trip,” Feil said. “We’ve been working to stay ahead of this issue by having on-call drivers take over parts of heavier trips, where we anticipate delays to occur.”
Feil also noted that early-quarter ridership spikes add to operational challenges, with week one averaging 23,000 passengers a day — a historically high volume for Unitrans. To combat this high ridership, Unitrans has implemented several precautionary measures, one of which Feil mentioned was sending extra buses to popular areas including lines VX and VL at the West Village.
Feil also praised the efforts of the Unitrains training department, which has been pivotal in preparing new drivers for solo service.
“They release about two to three new drivers into solo service each week and cover a lot of ground in the short few months they have them in training,” Feil said. “I have nothing but praise for them.”
Jacky Limón, a third-year plant sciences major and Unitrans trainer, echoed Feil’s sentiments about the training process.
“Training sessions this quarter have gone somewhat smoothly,” Limón said. “Coming back from such a long break is hard because many of the trainees have not been behind the wheel in a long time, making it difficult to pick up from where they left off. Despite this, I feel that there have definitely been some very successful trainees who have made great progress.”
Limón shared anecdotes about her experiences training new drivers, including one memorable Halloween night shift.
“On the very last run of the night, we had two people wearing extra-large inflatable costumes come on our bus,” Limón said. “They took up the entire priority seating area, but it was great for a training session to see if my trainee could drive while being mindful that they can’t hold on to the bus [the] best.”
While the quarter has had its challenges, the collective effort of drivers, trainers and administrators has contributed to a smoother overall experience for Unitrans passengers. With continued adjustments and support, Unitrans looks to maintain its vital role in the Davis community while still working to address issues that tend to arise at the start of each new quarter.
Written by: Jenevah Harrison — features@theaggie.org
