Author: Claire Larson
The Bengal Bus, Oxy’s student-run shuttle service, will begin taking students on regular trips around Eagle Rock and Pasadena this week, and student organizers have new plans for both new and returning passengers.For the many students at Oxy who do not have their own cars, the Bengal buses are an alternative mode of transportation. Service is free and trips typically take students to run errands or grab food off-campus at their convenience.
“We make regular trips to places such as Target, Trader Joe’s, Spitz, and CVS,” Bengal Bus student manager Matthew Williams (senior) said.
Early in the week, the bus schedule is posted in the Oxy Digest. Trips generally leave during evenings on weeknights and Fridays and Saturdays, and day trips leave during weekends.
Students who want to ride the Bengal bus need to show up at the Fountain at the take-off time written in the digest post.One change the Bengal Bus staff plans to make this year is to extend the weeknight hours of operation. “Instead of the 6:00-9:00 [p.m. hours] it will be 6:00-10:00 [p.m.]. That way students who play sports can have the opportunity to ride Bengal bus just as much as any other students,” Williams said.
This is not the only innovation the Bengal Bus staff hopes to introduce. Apart from changing the hours to accommodate more students, the staff plans to encourage communication about the Bengal Bus by increasing advertising on campus and possibly implementing a rewards system.”We are going to create new posters to post around campus,” Bengal Bus driver Courtney Mandel (junior) said.
According to Williams, advertising will likely extend to the residence halls and may include chalking the Quad as well. “We are still brainstorming new ways to attract new students to the Bengal Bus, but as soon as we start service [. . .] we will [continue to] use the Oxy Digest as the main [method of advertising],” Mandel said.
Mandel also mentioned the idea of a frequent rider card to attract users. The reward would probably be a prize or gift card after a specified number of rides.
Other efforts to encourage Bengal Bus use include taking more frequent beach trips on weekends or finding new ways to explore L.A., including going to museums. Also in the works is the introduction of a Bengal phone to make trip organization hassle-free.
“When my friends and I tried to use the Bengal Bus, there was a problem with consistency, like the Bus not showing up when we thought it would,” Kamini Kuchinad (sophomore) said.
The Bengal phone is expected to clear up those issues students had in past school years.
“People can communicate with the Bengal Bus [more easily] – to determine when is best for them to meet up with the Bus at the Fountain, as well as make the communication to be picked up from their drop-off point,” said Mandel.
Mandel applied to be a driver for the bus last year after becoming a regular rider during her first year at Oxy. She encourages students who don’t have cars to consider the Bengal Bus as a transportation option.
“It [is] definitely fun meeting and interacting with people and hearing their opinions about Oxy and Eagle Rock,” she said. “[It’s] a fun way to meet people [and] break out of the Oxy bubble.”
Williams emphasizes the Bengal Bus as an option for student groups. “[The bus] is [. . .] great for clubs and any organization on-campus because they can use a Bengal Bus and travel together in larger groups without spending money on their own gas,” he said.
There are other ways to organize transportation for off-campus trips. The Facilities Department rents out vehicles and even provides the vehicles used by the Bengal Bus.
However, van rentals cannot be used flexibly for simple errands like the Bengal Bus can. “A faculty member must approve the vehicle request for students,” Transportation Coordinator Danny Farias said.
These sorts of arrangements are typically done for athletics, but students can reserve vans for class trips as long as they get their professor’s approval.
For students who just want some time to get off-campus, the Bengal Bus is the service they will need to use.
“The Bengal Bus is a free, convenient, and easy way to get off-campus during the week – whether it is for a quick trip to grab some dinner at Spitz, or a run to Pasadena [for] Pinkberry, or to take a few hours to [. . .] buy necessities from Target,” Mandel said.
The Bengal Bus service can also be reached through e-mail at bus@oxy.edu
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