Transit passes leave more to be desired for students

Although there is high demand for the free TCU transit passes, they may not satisfy all students’ transportation needs.

Kyle Roderick, a graduate student who works at the ID Center, said a lot of students come by asking for the transit passes.

However, he said he thinks the bus routes available to university students and faculty are too limited, and the bus system is not beneficial enough to justify using it.

“It is my personal opinion that the buses don’t go enough places,” Roderick said.

The bus that leaves from the university bus stop does not go to Hulen Street, he said. In order to get to Hulen, riders must take the bus to downtown Fort Worth, and from there take another bus to Hulen.

Roderick, who lives in an apartment off Hulen, said he does not currently use the transit pass but would consider it if there was a direct bus route to his area.

Transportation is further limited by the shutdown of the Seventh Street bus earlier this semester. Previously, the T had partnered with TCU to provide a free shuttle service to Seventh Street on Friday and Saturday nights

Courtney Dunn, a senior marketing major who works at the Brown-Lupton University Union Information Desk, said the shuttle shut down because of lack of funding as well as lack of student interest in the service.

However, students often come in to get a transit pass and ask about bus routes to places such as shopping malls and downtown Fort Worth, Dunn said. Many of the students who ask for the passes are first-year students who do not have a car and do not want to bother their friends for a ride, she said.

Junior nursing major Stephanie Huyen, who also works at the University Union Information Desk, said the only time she took the bus using her transit pass, she found the bus routes confusing and unreliable. She said she waited at a bus stop for an hour and a half.

“Finally, I decided it was enough waiting, especially in the Texas heat,” Huyen said.

The transit passes are free to anyone with a university ID and allow free transportation on The T, Trinity Railway Express, and Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

The passes are available at the information desk in the University Union, at the ID Center and at the university Police Station.

Bus and train schedules for the T and TRE are available at the-t.com.

DART schedules are available at dart.org.