The
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
's Campus Shuttle is a
zero-fare
Free public transport, often called fare-free public transit or zero-fare public transport, is public transport which is fully funded by means other than collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local governme ...
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
service operating on the University's
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
and
St. Paul (
Falcon Heights) campuses. In 2009, the system carried more than 3.9 million riders,
making it the second-busiest transit system in
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
after the
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...
' primary provider
Metro Transit. It outpaces all of the suburban transit providers in the Twin Cities, as well as providers in other metropolitan areas in the state.
Duluth Transit Authority serving
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
, and
Superior, Wisconsin
Superior (; ) is a city in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,751 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, the city l ...
, is the state's third-busiest provider, while the
Minnesota Valley Transit Authority
The Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, also known by the acronym MVTA, is a public transportation agency that serves seven communities in the southern portion of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The agency provides fixed-route a ...
ranks fourth.
The shuttles are operated under contract by
First Transit
First Transit was an American transportation company. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, it operated over 300 locations, carrying more than 350 million passengers annually throughout the United States in 41 states, Puerto Rico, Panama, India an ...
through the University's Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) department.
System description
There are five regular routes in the system. Additionally, the University operates
paratransit
Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...
services and offers a shuttle route during
game days at
Huntington Bank Stadium
Huntington Bank Stadium (formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium) is an outdoor stadium located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The stadium opened in 2009 after three years of construction. It is ...
.
The system started running
hybrid-electric buses in 2008.
As of 2010, the system's fleet is primarily composed of hybrid buses. The system also uses a handful of
Van Hool
Van Hool NV () was a Belgium, Belgian coachbuilder and manufacturer of buses, Coach (bus), coaches, trolleybuses, and Semi-trailer, trailers.
Most of the buses and coaches were built entirely by Van Hool, with engines and axles sourced from C ...
European-styled BRT buses leased from the corporation as to not violate the
Surface Transportation Assistance Act, which requires transit vehicles to be built in the United States.
During the school year on regular weekdays, the shuttles operate with schedule-less service as often as every five minutes. In 2008, the system carried 3.55 million riders. Despite the fact that the shuttle service is free, it is comparatively inexpensive to operate: with an operating cost of $4.55 million in 2008, the operating subsidy was only $1.28 per passenger. For comparison,
Metro Transit's busy
Metro Blue Line required a subsidy of $1.44 that year, and that was with many riders paying $1.75 or more for a ride.
In 2010, Parking and Transportation Services received the annual Transit System of the Year award from the Minnesota Public Transit Association.
GopherTrip
GopherTrip is real-time information system that provides bus arrival information to assist in trip planning for the Campus Shuttle system. GopherTrip is available as a
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
for iPhone and Android systems. Users can also
text
Text may refer to:
Written word
* Text (literary theory)
In literary theory, a text is any object that can be "read", whether this object is a work of literature, a street sign, an arrangement of buildings on a city block, or styles of clothi ...
a stop number to 41411 and receive estimated arrival times for that stop. Certain stops on the system have audiovisual arrival boards. Since buses do not operate on schedules, merely time-points, the app has become useful for trip planning. At the beginning of the 2018 school year, buses were repainted to promote the GopherTrip service.
Audiovisual arrival boards are synced with NexTrip, Metro Transit's own real-time information service, and will announce and display only local buses who share stops. However, the app has no integration with Metro Transit's own app or offers information on any outside service. Sequentially, NexTrip cannot predict the arrival of Campus Shuttles.
Ridership
The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response services.
See also
*
Metro Transit
References
External links
Parking and Transportation Services – Busing
{{Twin Cities Transit
Campus Shuttle
Bus transportation in Minnesota
Bus rapid transit in Minnesota
Transportation in Minneapolis–Saint Paul