School is meant to be challenging—overcoming obstacles is all part of learning. Sometimes, however, an obstacle is just an obstacle. When the Graduate School asked students about their Michigan Tech experiences and offered to help, the students jumped at the chance to speak up: it can be hard to get around town, they said. Our students love the bus services provided by Michigan Tech Transportation Services and the City of Houghton, but, they ventured, would it be possible to have evening routes, Saturday routes to the west Houghton commercial strip, and vehicles that could accommodate families?
After considerable planning, Transportation Services, the Graduate School, and the Graduate Student Government are pleased to announce new bus routes to address these concerns. Effective immediately, all three student issues, as well as the needs of the campus community at large, have been addressed by the schedules described below. This free shuttle service is available to University students, staff, and faculty.
Services available:
- Campus Parking Shuttle– a , oop connecting the MUB to commuter lots throughout campus, including the SDC; runs through business hours.
- Daniell Heights Loop-a small loop connecting University Housing (Daniell Heights) to the MUB; also runs through business hours.
- Michigan Tech-City Shuttle + Daniell Heights Loop-a larger, figure-8 loop providing a second Daniell Heights/MUB run every hour but including a trip through downtown Houghton up to the commercial strip in west Houghton (Econo/Shopko, Walmart, Aspirus, Razorback) returning through town via Houghton Avenue (starts 7:00am; every hour; last loop returns to MUB at 6:45pm; a great commuter route).
- Michigan Tech-City Shuttle Evening Loop-combines a loop around the MUB/Heights route with a ride along Sharon Avenue to the west Houghton commercial district, returning back along Sharon avenue to the Heights and MUB (Wednesday through Friday; starts 6:45 pm from the Upper Heights to West Houghton with the last loop returning to the Heights at 8:45 pm).
- Saturday Shuttle-New New New! The University has paired with Lamers Bus Lines to provide free bus service on Saturday, Sep 23rd and 30th from Daniell Heights to the west Houghton commercial district (starts noon from the Upper Heights to the west Houghton commercial district approximately every hour with the last loop out at 3pm. Please note, currently this service is for students and children over the age of 4.).
Questions? Please contact GSG President Hossein Tavakoli, or Graduate School representative Shellie Crisman. Taking a bus is convenient, energy efficient, and can even be part of a wellness plan (if you walk one way!). Route details may be found at these links:
Shuttle schedule: http://www.mtu.edu/facilities/pdfs/shuttle-schedule.pdf
Please visit http://www.mtu.edu/maps/ for interactive Shuttle Maps or contact Transportation Services (parking@mtu.edu) with any questions.