TigerTransit, the University’s bus system, has introduced updated hours and routes this academic year after reviewing ridership data and gathering feedback from student and department representatives.
Route changes include new connections to the Meadows Drive and Stadium Drive garages, a new Route 5 linking Princeton Station to Stadium Drive Garage, and a restructured campus circulator (Routes 6A/6B) that runs evenings and weekends.
Other routes saw adjustments to operating hours. Evening service has been expanded between 7 p.m. and midnight, when ridership is high. All routes now end at midnight, including two evening routes that ran from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.
“TigerTransit ridership and system performance are reviewed continuously, year-round, and revised as needed at the conclusion and start of each academic year,” Jennifer Morrill, a University spokesperson, wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. According to Morrill, September ridership has increased six percent compared to the same period last year.
Some graduate students — among the most frequent TigerTransit users — have generally welcomed the changes, noting increased accessibility and relatively similar service compared to previous semesters.
“One thing that I’m really impressed with regards to TPS (Transportation & Parking Services) is that they are extremely data-driven,” Christopher Catalano GS, the Facilities & Transportation Chair of the Graduate Student Government, told the ‘Prince.’ “They’re using the data explicitly to craft the schedule and the bus route and everything else they do.”
Catalano meets monthly with TPS staff and said that he consistently stressed to TPS the importance of graduate students’ access to residences such as Lakeside, Lawrence, Meadows, and the Graduate College last semester. The new campus circulator now serves all of these locations.
Naman Agrawal GS, who takes the bus daily to reach classes and his office, said that he does not “see any reasons to complain about the service,” though he noted that the lack of service after midnight can be inconvenient.
“It was a nice security to have that previously, if I had to work until really late, I could take [the bus],” Agrawal told the ‘Prince.’ He added that limited late-night service could pose challenges for students who frequent the Debasement Bar (DBar), a private club located beneath the Graduate College.
“A lot of people do tend to leave after 12 a.m., and it would be very difficult now to get home from the DBar — you probably have to book an Uber yourself, because there’s no longer buses after 12,” Agrawal said.
Other students also criticized the limited frequency of the buses, especially the campus circulator, which students report runs every 45 minutes.
“It is nice having the buses run every 15 minutes during the day, but it is a little inconvenient for me that they stop at 6:45 p.m., and only the campus circulators going after that,” Alexandra Bodrova GS wrote to the ‘Prince.’ Bodrova said that the new schedule often forces her to leave campus earlier than desired or remain in her office late if a bus is missed.
“Sometimes I would walk instead, but since the campus is not well lit, and I am a woman, I do not feel perfectly comfortable walking alone after dark,” Bodrova wrote.
Morrill said that changes to bus hours were made after monitoring ridership during evening hours. “Over recent years, various late-night transit options have been offered as late as 3 a.m., but ridership after midnight remained very low in each iteration, averaging fewer than five riders per hour even when classes are in session,” she wrote.
Rayan Elahmadi ’26, a member of the men’s water polo team, also called for more frequent services and additional routes.
“I’d like to see increased services from Stadium Drive Garage between 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., Elahmadi told the ‘Prince.’ He noted that “more routes toward the E-Quad and Prospect Avenue would benefit the student athlete population.”
Catalano said there are ongoing discussions about potentially reevaluating bus routes and hours for the spring semester — a change from the usual year-by-year review process.
“Because of all the changes that are happening, not just to the budget and the routes — but also to campus itself, with all the new engineering buildings opening up, the traffic around campus is changing,” he said. “We’re trying to be proactive and respond quickly to the changing environment.”
Sena Chang is a senior News writer for the ‘Prince.’ She typically covers campus and community activism, the state of higher education, and alumni news.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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