It’s possible that the ASU charter bus collision with a pedestrian Tuesday afternoon was an isolated incident of tragedy for ASU Parking and Transit Services.
However, we think it’s much more likely that the accident was an inevitable outcome of the increasingly low standards of transit between ASU’s four campuses. We’ve had our concerns throughout the year over the dilapidated state of ASU’s shuttles and buses, but our distress over this incident compels us to speak out about the inadequacies of ASU transit services.
Considering how much safer using ASU transit services was four years ago, it seems that the decline of our safety on ASU shuttles and buses is strongly correlated with the growth of ASU's student body. In 2014, ASU reported a record enrollment of over 82,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Have campus shuttles kept up with these massive increases in student enrollment? If we asked this to the lines of students standing in the middle aisle holding on to lousy handrails, they would answer no, right before they fall on their faces after a sharp left turn.
In an unsuccessful attempt to solve this overcrowding, ASU has made contracts with several bus charter companies. This is an important point, considering the bus involved in Tuesday’s accident was chartered. Students have no idea who holds these companies accountable, or what their review system for accidents is like. As far as we know, these companies were simply the lowest bidders — and they probably were. There are more important things than simply getting students from point A to point B; we value safety, comfort and reliability just as much, and we’re not sure these companies are the ones to properly address our concerns.
Students have tight schedules and places they need to be. They have classes, research and friends spread across ASU’s four main campuses. For the large number of students who do not have a car on campus — 45 percent on Tempe campus, for example — the free options are limited to ASU transit services. Shuttle drivers recognize this, but it seems that more and more frequently, shuttles are not showing up at their designated times. Everyone who has ever driven a car knows how reckless drivers can be when they are in a rush; showing up on time is an important part of making good decisions behind the wheel.
Students need to remember that they are paying for this service through their tuition, and with the student athletic fee in effect, students are supposedly paying for an improvement of these commuting services. As consumers, Sun Devils should be upset. Students shouldn’t have to shake their heads as a driver texts and talks on the phone while driving, and drivers shouldn’t have to make do with jolty, awkward vehicles like the Express shuttles seem to be.
ASU brands itself as one university in many places. For this philosophy to be fully realized, the University’s commuting services need have the highest degree of excellence and safety. Hopefully, the dreadful accident on Tuesday will prompt the administration to evaluate the condition of ASU transit services.
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