Dear students and staff at the University of Kentucky,

We are a group of students who are passionate about improving the bus system on this campus. There are several issues that come with buses that run through our campus, which include buses running back-to-back and arriving extremely late. Since it may be extremely difficult trying to fix all of the problems of the bus system, we thought it would be more effective to focus on the technological issues of campus commute. Specifically, we wanted to hone in on how the university can improve predictability of the buses with the app rather than efficiency.

Many UK students and workers rely on the TransLoc Rider app to plan travel schedules to classes, parking areas, and apartments. According to UK Now, the official news website of the University of Kentucky, bus tracking has been in operation on UK’s campus since 2011. In addition, 21,708 UK bus riders used the TransLoc Rider app in 2015. Rising in popularity, the TransLoc Rider app is a core piece of the campus commute issue.

There should also be a focus on the inefficiencies of the TransLoc Rider app because there are persistent problems with the app inaccurately displaying buses going off route, buses going out of service, and buses going off schedule. These issues are realistic to tackle, as there are multiple monthly city reports that reveal buses running through UK are not as predictable to track on the TransLoc app as normal city of Lexington buses. Specifically, there is more GPS technology installed and actually put into use on city buses than campus buses. This may be due to UK Transportation Services trying to save money.

UK Transportation Services can improve the technological issues of the buses that run through campus by simply updating its technology to meet the standards of normal city buses. As a result, the TransLoc app will then be able to track more buses that do not appear on the app. In addition, more students will realistically be able to rely on the bus and the TransLoc Rider app in planning daily lives and schedules.

We can make a permanent difference if we all raise awareness about the unreliability and unpredictability of the buses at the University of Kentucky. The more student and staff signatures there are, the more likely the president and UK Transportation Services will consider improving the bus system. Your voices are important!

Sincerely,

Students of UK looking for a change