In the past two weeks, I have been extremely disappointed and frankly, screwed over by the Tiger Transit system. I have seen my driver peruse the smart phone on their dash while driving, which, for anyone who has been living under a rock, is extremely dangerous when operating any vehicle, let alone a bus full of students... oh, and it's illegal.
One ride home had our bus pulling a U-turn in the middle of oncoming traffic on South College because the driver missed a turn. My driver often barely comes to a stop at my complex because it's not a popular destination and I have to ask them to let me off. Multiple times I have been turned away from a bus because it was too full.
The latest incident had me waiting in the cold rain for ten minutes because all the buses on my line were bunched up at the same stops. Things happen, I understand. But as the minutes ticked away, I watched four buses come and go from the complex across the street. A bus finally pulled in, but all the students waiting were told, "Sorry. Too full. There's another bus coming." So despite the fact that I arrived at the stop early, I waited in the rain for twenty minutes and was late to my first class. I live at the last stop of my line, so the bus is bound to be full, particularly after picking up a number of students from the big apartment complex right before mine. However, the large volume of students is to be expected, so why day after day does it seem to come as a surprise to the operators?
We are told to ride the Transit in an attempt to alleviate the parking crisis on campus, but then we are left in the dust because the system isn't efficient. I appreciate Auburn's attempt to provide alternatives for the $160-first-come-first- serve-Hunger-Games-style-lottery parking pass. Personally, I'm doing my best to work with the system by getting to the stops early and planning for slow travel times, yet more often than not, I've been up a creek due to poor operation.
Auburn, your students are trying to contribute to the parking solution, but we're tired of being thrown under, or rather, left behind by the bus.
Ashley Selby
Senior
Journalism
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