Let’s be frank, the current shuttle system isn’t that great. The shuttles often run late or leave a stop before they are scheduled to, which makes it is impossible to find a shuttle when you need one. And even when you do find one, it probably won’t be the route you want.
There are some things that could be done to salvage the current system; to make some minor improvements for the time being. But what’s the fun of that?
A complete overhaul is the way to go. The biggest problem with shuttles is they cater to up to twenty people. And twenty different people, all wanting to leave at different times and arrive at various places at certain times, are going to end up having to compromise.
But what if the shuttle, or pod, as I’m naming it, was a two seater? Then you wouldn’t have that conflict.
Now obviously these pods won’t take you exactly where you want to go; we don’t want to clutter up our beautiful campus with pods running around everywhere. But the pods would be quick way to get from one end of campus to the other.
Plus, since the pods are two seaters, you wouldn’t have to wait for the pod to leave. You could jump in an available pod, close the door, press a button for your desired destination, and off you’d go.
The pod would not have to make multiple stops, and it could let you off anywhere on the track. You could stop next to McFarlin, or go all the way to LPAC.
The pods would be equipped with sensors, so if some idiot freshman was standing on the track, they wouldn’t get smushed (I know, I know, but TU doesn’t like getting sued by angry parents).
All in all a bunch of pods would be much better than a few unwieldy buses. They might not be able to take you exactly where you want to go, but they will save you time waiting and would most definitely be used by more students more often.
