St. John’s students expressed their concerns over the cancellation of the Manhattan shuttle bus service for the new semester.
“St. John’s is a metropolitan school,” said Maurisa Fraser, a junior sociology major. “We should be able to have services that can connect us to these areas.”
The elimination of the shuttle service originated when the Manhattan campus, formerly on Murray Hill, moved to Astor Place in Lower Manhattan. “The shuttle to and from the Manhattan campus was established to assist the 200 resident students living at the Manhattan campus to travel to the Queens campus for class,” said Jackie Lochrie, the associate dean of students for Student Services. Due to an absence of residents on the current Manhattan campus, the shuttle services were cancelled.
Although there is an extended shuttle on the Queens Campus that provides trips to and from the Jamaica Long Island Railroad station and the 169th Street F train station, some students still consider the commute a lengthy one.
Kevin Motta, a junior actuarial science major, believes that the commute is especially tough for those who have a limited amount of time to travel between campuses. “For a lot of students who have work on the Queens campus, it’s hard for them to get to the Manhattan campus without the shuttle,” he said.
As an actuarial science major, Motta takes four out of his five classes on the Manhattan campus, so the shuttle service provided an easier solution for him to travel faster. With the elimination of the service, it now takes him more than an hour to commute between campuses.
Even without residents on the Manhattan campus, Fraser believes the Manhattan shuttle provided an accessible way for new residents to navigate to Manhattan. “So many students have never been to Manhattan before and they don’t feel connected, but the shuttle bus made it easier for them to commute,” Fraser said. “It especially helped that it was a St. John’s bus; it made them feel more safe and secure,” she continued.
As for students on the Staten Island campus, an hourly shuttle is provided for students to go between campus and the Staten Island Ferry.
More information on the Shuttle Bus Services can be found under the Resource Center tab on www.stjohns.edu.
