Buses and the Campus

One of the nice things about working on campus over the summer is the fact that parking is free over the break. Gas, unfortunately, is not. Keeping my car’s gas tank relatively full is one of the big problems with living at home and commuting to work (aside from not being able to order pizza whenever I want).

The best way that I’ve found to save gas, though, is to only actually drive half way, to the downtown campus, and just take the bus up the other half. Over the summer, the campus connector travels between the two campuses about every half hour, and it’s about a half hour ride to and from the downtown campus. During the school year they come and go at least once every ten minutes or faster (when classes are in session). There are also two more routes that run during the school year that head to apartments off campus.

The truth is, though, that the campus is pretty self-contained. Three main dining halls, several ATMs, lots of venues for entertainment, you don’t really have to leave the campus for very much. But, unfortunately, there are a few things missing, namely grocery stores, banks, and places to dine out. Thankfully, the buses make up for that. The downtown route stops in Standale along the way, about ten minutes from campus. If you need more banking than an ATM, there are several bank branches nearby, if you need more grocery shopping than the on campus convenience shop, the bus drops you off in front of a Meijers. If campus dining isn’t working for you that particular day (and the ten pounds I gained freshman year would beg to differ on that), there are several sit down restaurants right near the bus stop. And that’s not to mention the fact that that bus continues on down towards the second largest city in Michigan.

I don’t really have much more to say, so I suppose this is a good place to stop. Don’t forget to submit any questions you guys have.

-Kyle