As most of my rants do, this one is being started on the sidewalk while waiting for the illustrious shuttle to pick me up. It has clearly been established that it is unreliable, but I intend to take a different approach in this article. 

Sometimes, especially later in the day, the shuttles go on a complete break, and there’s not a single one running. This is incredibly frustrating for people like me, who often spend their entire day running to things back-to-back–I don’t have time to wait around. 

Even after I established a schedule with the shuttle, there are still times when there is not a single one running. 

No fear, everyone says–call Campus Safety for a ride! So, I did. And they told me the shuttle was running. And I told them it wasn’t. And they said, “Sometimes, the app does that.” And then we both hung up. 

Very luckily, I did not have somewhere to be at this time, so I didn’t call back after it became abundantly clear that the shuttle was, in fact, not running. 

However, I waited over 30 minutes for the shuttle to arrive, not even including the 15 minutes it was waiting at the HUB. 

I’m simply just tired of feeling such an EXTREME separation from North campus. And, it seems like Campus Police is not very willing to offer students rides during the shuttle’s breaks. I’m tired of having to pay $10 to Uber to class after waiting for the shuttle to arrive, only to find it’s taking a break that was not exposed to me. 

The app NEEDS an update to tell students when drivers are going on a break. I will be waiting outside, watching as the minutes increase from when the shuttle is “supposed to arrive” until it will eventually disappear off the map–indicating either a break or the end of someone’s shift. Why can’t the shuttle disappear off the map as soon as the driver reveals they will be going on a break? 

I have no complaints against the actual drivers. They’ve been lovely to me this semester and honestly have stuck to a more maintained schedule, but I can tell they are understaffed. Which, again, is not their fault. These workers deserve a higher income if Moravian wants to maintain them. 

I’ll be completely transparent–I was having a bad day when this happened, which is probably why I needed to vent through an article. However, I don’t think it’s a lot to ask to have a way back to my dorm that does not require me to pay. 

I’m not sure what’s been happening with the shuttles recently or if it has just been the end-of-the-year rush, but there have been times that there are no operating shuttles for over an hour, and I’m forced to either walk or Uber to North. 

Not only does this make me extremely hesitant to attend events later in the day, as I have no clue when the shuttle will be able to bring me to or from North, but it just leads to so much frustration in general. I spend so much time organizing my schedule around the shuttle, and it doesn’t feel fair compared to North residents who can just take a walk down the street. 

I understand the staffing issue worldwide and locally, but the school still must offer me a safe way back to my dorm without me buying an Uber–especially since they advertise how Campus Police is willing to give rides “no questions asked.” I figured the middle of the day would be a pretty normal time to ask, but I guess not. 

I know I’m not an emergency case, but it gets pretty frustrating when I apologize for the shuttle making me late multiple times within one week. 

Don’t get me wrong: I love South campus, and that’s why I intend on living here next year. I just didn’t also need to experience an attitude on top of waiting for the shuttle.