Rethink College Park

Starting August 25, 2007, the Department of Transportation Services is offering expanded weekend service on Route 104 to the College Park Metro from central campus beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings. One of the major complaints of bus riders within the campus community was the lack of weekend bus service from campus to College Park Metro Station on the Green Line. Buses would not leave Stamp Student Union on Saturday and Sunday mornings until after 12:00 noon.

With the extra hours of bus service, students will now be able to travel to DC for jobs or weekend activities via the Shuttle-UM bus and Metrorail earlier than previously made possible. Likewise, those wishing to visit College Park traveling from elsewhere in the DC Metro area on weekend mornings can now do so. Rethink College Park applauds the move as a way for DOTS to better facilitate access between campus and Downtown DC during the weekend morning hours. The full Fall 2007 schedule for the route can be found here. (PDF)

In addition to the Shuttle-UM Route 104, several other public bus lines run along Campus Drive to the Metro Station. The Metrobus (red, white, and blue buses) Routes C8, J4, F8, and the County’s TheBus Route 17 all provide service. Particularly during evenings or weekends, one of these buses may come before the Shuttle-UM bus. Metrobus costs $1.25, or $.35 with a transfer (automatic with a SmarTrip Card) and TheRide costs $.75. This is the best map we could find of the routes, if riding a route for the first time you can double-check with the driver to ensure you’re on the right bus. Links to all these transit services are always under “transit” on the right side of the page.