As temperatures continue to drop towards the end of the fall semester, students may find walking to class less appealing. Fortunately, there is a more comfortable way to get around campus.
“The Happy Bus is a bus that transports students to classes,” SRSGA President Connor Pavlicko told The Rocket. “They have routes that go from dorm buildings to class buildings, as well as off-campus apartments and campus housing.”
The Happy Bus is one of the services SGA provides to SRU students.
“The idea was to ensure that students had a way to get to classes, the grocery store, and their housing,” Pavlicko said. “However they’d like to use it, whether that be for bad weather or just wanting to take the bus.”
Two buses are available to pick up and drop off students at their desired locations on and off campus. Buses travel to the Giant Eagle Plaza and to off-campus housing such as The Grove and The Ivy (University Village).
Students can track the bus using the BusWhere app with the code SRU.
The Happy Bus schedule is also pinned on SGA’s Instagram. It makes stops at the Smith Student Center on campus every 30 minutes.
The company that SGA works with to make The Happy Bus possible is Campbell Bus Lines.
Sophomore Rachel Petro uses the Happy Bus twice a week.
“I am able to get to class across campus during the colder months in a reasonable amount of time without having to trek to the other side of campus in the cold,” Petro said. “It is hard to get up so early for an 8 a.m. in the winter, but the Happy Bus helps me get through it.”
Pavlicko said SGA is working on making the Happy Bus more accessible to all students. They are working to trade one of the buses for a bus with a wheelchair ramp.
“That’s something we’re looking at right now to make it as accessible to students as possible,” Pavlicko said.
“I think it’s a great resource,” Pavlicko said about the Happy Bus. “We are having issues with overcrowding in parking lots, so it’s nice not to have to worry about where you’re going to find parking for your car to get to class when you could just take the bus.”
Pavlicko said that SGA is looking to implement an incentive to encourage more students to use the Happy Bus. “We are starting a campaign in the next couple of weeks to promote the Happy Bus, so that’s something students could look out for as well,” he said.
Pavlicko encouraged students to come to SGA with any feedback they may have about the Happy Bus.
“I definitely recommend that students ultimately use the Happy Bus, but if they have something they can find to make it better, let us know. Always reach out,” Pavlicko said.
