Commuting to campus from Hancock has now been made easier with the permanent implementation of a Hancock commuter shuttle route for students. Students who live in Hancock now have the option to use public transit to get to campus.
The Hancock shuttle pilot program has moved out of the pilot phase from last semester after evaluating the efficiency and the ridership of the service. With information provided by Tony Abe, Transportation Operations Assistant Manager, it was observed that within the first few days into the new semester, 50 to 60 riders a day had utilized this service. So far, that usership has tripled compared to last semester. There have been a few changes made since the pilot, including shuttles starting at 7:20 a.m. to accommodate for 8am classes, and two routes that the shuttle will alternate between.
“Now the Hancock shuttle will now go to the hospital and Western Upper Peninsula Health Department,” Abe said.
On Aug. 24, Transportation Services was informed that the City of Hancock would no longer be able to provide shuttle service, as initially planned for the semester, due to driver issues. Rearrangements were made accordingly by Mitch Apriesnig at Husky Motors for in house shuttles to be used as before and a MTU ID will still be required to use the Hancock shuttle. As of now, the Hancock shuttle is solely funded by MTU.
Transportation Services has recently signed up on a new transportation service program called TripShot; however, the application for Tech students is still being sorted out by IT and TripShot. The application will later be announced by Transportation services about implementation once training is complete.
“TripShot will help the administrative side but also on the ridership end,” Abe said.
This will bring the usage of tablets on all commuter shuttles to electronically document ridership. The app includes new updates such as constant and accurate GPS location of all the shuttles when they are on their routes. Also, TripShot has a feature that provides reliable updates for riders when shuttles are delayed.
For more information about Commuter Shuttles, please visit the Transportation Services shuttle page on the MTU website https://www.mtu.edu/transportation/options/shuttle/
