The Undergraduate Student Government will offer students traveling for spring break a free shuttle to the John Glenn International Airport, starting March 10. Credit: Aubrey Wright | Managing Editor for Content
The Undergraduate Student Government is bringing back the campus-to-airport shuttle for spring break to provide students with a free and accessible way to get to their destinations.
The shuttles will take students to John Glenn International Airport and will run every hour March 10 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and March 11 from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to the registration website.
According to the website, the shuttles will also be available to take students back to campus when returning from spring break. The airport-to-campus shuttles will run March 18 from noon to midnight and March 19 from 9 a.m. to midnight. Both pickup and drop off will be at the south loop by the Ohio Union.
Rut Bansal, deputy director in student affairs for USG and a second-year in city and regional planning, said this semester USG sent out surveys via social media to get student feedback on what time they were leaving, and when they would need the shuttle to be available for spring break departure.
“For a lot of students, especially out-of-state students, we don’t have a lot of resources on campus that are catered to making sure that we are able to get home safely and easily,” Bansal said.
Bansal, along with Julia Meyer, deputy director, and Jack Tumulty, director of student affairs, are in charge of putting the service together this semester.
There are no limitations as to how many students can ride, however, there are 33 seats on each hourly shuttle, according to the website. While it is not required to register for a ride, doing so will help USG make sure it is providing enough transportation.
Andrew Pierce, USG president and a fourth-year in public policy, said the idea for a tangible transportation system for students came from his presidential campaign.
“[Former USG Vice Presidential Candidate] Shayanna [Hinkle-Moore] and I, as Columbus residents and since coming to Ohio State, always wanted to find a way to have tangible impacts on campus that not only impact the Columbus community but more specifically the student community that may be traveling from international areas, off-campus areas, out-of-state areas,” Pierce said.
When current USG Vice President Derek Moore, a fourth-year in information systems, joined the office, he said he got involved with the project after hearing students’ concerns with the availability of transportation on campus.
“Students who attended had said that transportation costs, especially for commuters, were very expensive,” Moore said.
Pierce said the campus-to-airport shuttle was created for the first time during winter break last semester to reflect a similar service, Connect Air, the COTA bus system provided until 2017.
Bansal said the shuttle is meant to lessen the financial burden for students traveling over spring break.
“We wanted to do the campus-to-airport shuttle to make sure that people don’t have the financial responsibility of getting to and from the airport, and USG can help provide that comfort and that safety of a school-sanctioned bus,” Bansal said.
