The Sophomore Class Council is to be commended for the creation of a new bus route to the Greece Ridge Shopping Center. Students have grown tired of being limited to one shopping plaza for their weekends off campus, and until recently, Fridays were a night that you had to spend on campus unless you had a friend with a car.
Additionally, another new bus route, the Mt. Hope bus route, was put together by the Students’ Association and the Freshman Class Council. This is another good addition to our university’s free bus transportation. The Mt. Hope area is filled with good stores and restaurants, but is outside of many students’ walking distance during the cold winter months.
Far too often, the things that some groups of students accomplish are overlooked. The sophomore and freshman class councils took the initiative to do something about the limited transportation options we have available to us, and they deserve some recognition.
We as students are not powerless. The class councils and the SA have funds at their disposal to improve the time we spend at UR, and it is good to see them putting those funds to a use that so many students will be able to appreciate.
This will expand the range of areas where we as students are seen outside of campus. We have a reputation as completely separate from the community that surrounds us, and the more places it is easy for us to go, the more of a presence in the Rochester community we can develop. These buses provide us with more places to go, and more opportunities to make ourselves known to the rest of the city.
It is important, however, that students utilize these services, especially now, during both of the new route’s trial periods. If the buses are popular, the councils and the SA should decide to continue them.