Students, staff and faculty living in the LaSalle Street area can hail a new method of transportation to and from campus.
Duke Transit launched a temporary LaSalle Loop at the start of the school year that could become permanent depending on ridership, which is monitored by Duke University Parking and Transportation Services. The route, which runs every 30 minutes from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., runs along apartment complexes between Erwin and Hillsborough roads, ending at Towerview Road.
"It was started in response to a strong desire to see more transportation alternatives in that area by some collection of undergraduate and graduate students," Vice President for Campus Services Kemel Dawkins said.
Student organizations like the Graduate and Professional Student Council worked with Duke officials to launch the new line. GPSC President Alethea Duncan, a fourth-year Ph. D. candidate in chemistry, said the route was created to alleviate the transportation issues many undergraduate and graduate students faced after being displaced from West and Central campuses because of renovations in Few Quadrangle.
"It's a really great service," she said. "It benefits both the graduate and undergraduate community-I always see a bunch of people getting on and off the bus."
But because of the route's limited hours, many students will still need to seek other means of transportation. Although senior Sneha Mehta does not plan to take the bus because she has a car, she said she would not feel safe walking home after 9 p.m. if she had no other option.
The line is currently serviced by one bus, stopping at Durham Area Transit Authority spots and apartment complexes along Morreene Road, Campus Walk Avenue and LaSalle Street. If there is growing demand, however, officials said more buses may be added to the route.
The pilot route is operated by Carolina Livery Service, a transportation and chauffeur agency, and owner Mike McMorrow said the route could become permanent in the coming years if it is popular with students.
Although 136 riders took advantage of the new line last Friday, senior Mark Uh, a resident of the Lofts at Lakeview on Erwin Road, said he would prefer walking because of his apartment's proximity to campus.
"I want to take it, but it would still be better for me to walk than wait for the bus or drive," he said. "This summer, I'd drive to the Blue Zone, and my friend would leave the apartment at the same time. He'd walk and beat me to class every time. There's just no point."
Nevertheless, Dawkins said he believes the new route will prove popular with the students living off campus.
"[The line] dovetails with our desire to provide more environmentally friendly transportation alternatives to students and others," he said. "We thought it would also provide a more convenient means of getting back and forth to campus from the nodes of students that live in those areas."
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