Shuttle UM Ridership at all time high
September 6th, 2006 | by David Daddio | Published in General College Park
The Diamondback reported today that Shuttle UM bus ridership is up 50% from last year; apparently due to the increasing cost of gasoline and parking permits. 
10,000 rides (not riders) were counted on the first day of classes according to the Transportation Services director, with much of the new ridership coming from the recently built high rises integrated into Shuttle-UM routes.
This change in shuttle ridership, although small in comparison to the total UMD commuter population (we estimate 25,000 students and 12,000 faculty), represents a noteworthy trend in student residency and transportation choices. Just add the 8,250 beds spread over the 34 campus residence halls/apartments to South Campus Commons (1,825 beds), Courtyards (700 beds), University View (1,056 beds), and the new Towers at University Town Center (910 mostly UMD beds) and it’s not hard to see the trend; vast amounts of new student housing being built over a relatively short period. Taken together, all of this housing probably surpasses the University’s 1960’s high rise building frenzy.
It seems clear that more student housing on and around campus has the potential to both reduce congestion on Route 1 and meet insatiable housing demand. Hopefully new projects in the pipeline will also have the added benefit of dampening exorbitant rental rates and putting more “feet on the street” in College Park.
