Transportation Services recently announced changes to the Texas A&M bus routes as of Fall 2016. These changes include the complete removal of a section of route 34 that includes the Walmart bus stop and several apartment complex bus stops. Transportation Services (TS) cited "under-utilization" for the changes. Numbers alone do not determine the importance of a bus route, especially a route  many use to get groceries. Upon contacting TS, an off-campus student using the route was told,

"Unfortunately the route was so under-utilized that we could no longer justify sending the bus out that way. The Brazos Valley Transit service still goes to Walmart, so you can hop on a Brazos bus to the First Baptist Church, and then take an A&M bus to school."

Rather than retain that section of the bus route, TS suggests an intermediate bus just to get to the bus stop. According to minutes from the Transportation Services Advisory Committee's November 2015 meeting, the change attempts to "minimize cost per passenger" (found here: http://transport.tamu.edu/About/TSAC/files/minutes/2015_11_4.pdf

Both on-campus and off-campus students utilize this route. Off-campus students, such as myself, use the route to get to and from class every day. The announced changes are too short-notice for students in the apartments near the cancelled stops to get out of housing contracts before the route change goes into effect.

On-campus students often use route 34 to get to Walmart for groceries, but obviously no one needs to shop for groceries every single day. Despite what looks like a relatively small number of students using these stops, the Walmart stop is actually important to many on-campus students. Especially with the price of on-campus food, a cheaper alternative like Walmart is important for college students. Cutting the Walmart stop takes away the most economical grocery store accessible to on-campus students without vehicles.

Please join me in urging Transportation Services to return the stops near Walmart. If you would like to do more, please email Ms. Madeline Dillard from the Transportation Services Advisory Committee at mdillard@tamu.edu and urge her to revise the bus routes. You can also text 72727 with AGGIES### (### being a bus number) if you are on a bus and would like to remind TS that people use it. Thank you.