The SA senate unanimously passed a statement of support for the renaming of several University shuttle lines Feb. 12.
The proposal came from e5 students Henry Litsky (who is a managing editor for the Campus Times) and Aaron Weiner, whose joint project focuses on transportation at the University of Rochester. The proposal is intended to clarify current shuttle route names and provide consistency via naming conventions.
Litsky and Weiner proposed a system with direct, local, and express lines. Direct routes have exactly two stops, local routes are a standard service with stops along the route, and express routes have less frequent stops than a local service but more than just a starting and ending stop, the statement explained.
The proposal also clarifies the difference between a line and a loop. “A ‘loop’ only serves destinations along the route in one direction (thus making a loop back to its origin), while a ‘line’ serves destinations along the route in both directions,” the statement also said.
Under the proposal, which is still pending and for which the SA resolution was merely a statement of support, the Silver Line and Blue Line’s names would not change.
The Red Line, however, would change to the Eastman Direct., and theOrange Line and Gold Line would have different variations due to different hours of operation. The Orange Line would become Orange Loop A, Orange Loop B, and Orange Loop C. The Gold Line would become the Riverview Express and the Riverview Local.
The Green Line would also have name variations based on end location. Shuttles running on The Green Line would be changed to Marketplace Loop, Public Market Line, and Pittsford Plaza Line.
The SA’s statement of support for this plan was sponsored by Weiner and senior Senator Edban Watt ; co-sponsored by sophomore Campus Life Committee Chair Helen Kim, first-year Senator Quinten Denkenberger, and first-year Legislative Advisor Pilar Guido; and endorsed by Litsky, who is not in the SA.
The implementation of shuttle route name changes is up to UR’s Transportation department and was discussed at a recent Transportation Advisory Committee meeting.
Editor’s Note (2/25/24): Managing Editor Henry Litsky did not edit this story due to conflicts of interest.
