Transit Service Changes

I’m writing to inform you of several significant changes to transit service at UCSC and throughout the surrounding Santa Cruz community. The Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (Metro) has implemented service cuts and scheduling changes across Santa Cruz County. Three Metro routes serving the UCSC campus – Route 13, and the two Night Owl routes (16N and 19N) – have been eliminated, and schedules have been modified for many other campus-related routes. Detailed route and schedule information can be found under the “Routes” tab at www.scmtd.com or by picking up a printed copy of Headways on Metro buses and at locations around campus and in town.
 
Starting Monday, September 19, Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) will make the following changes to its Campus Transit services:

• Night Owl service:  TAPS will operate its own version of the Night Owl service to transport UCSC affiliates between the campus and downtown Santa Cruz. UCSC Night Owl service will operate every 45 minutes from 11:45pm–1:15am Sunday through Thursday, and every 20 minutes from 11:30pm–2:50am Friday and Saturday nights. The Night Owl will pick up and drop off riders on Cathcart at Pacific, adjacent to Old School Shoes and across from the University Town Center. A valid UCSC ID must be presented to board the Night Owl. Note:  The Night Owl bus service is currently unable to use off-campus Metro bus stops. Until this issue is resolved, the only stop between the campus and Cathcart and Pacific will be at Bay Street, just north of Mission. Buses heading downtown will stop next to the Rip Curl store; buses heading to campus will stop just north of the Metro stop next to Burger.
 
• Bike Shuttle:  The bike shuttle that picked up at the now-defunct University Inn is relocating to the new Night Owl downtown pickup point (see above). The Downtown Bike Shuttle departs downtown at 7:25am, 8:25am, 9:25am and 10:25am, Monday through Friday during the academic quarter.
 
• Day Core shuttle service:  In order to fund the Night Owl service, the Day Core shuttle route has been eliminated. Both services are funded solely from student transit fees, and student input during Spring Quarter was resoundingly in favor of prioritizing Night Owl over Day Core service. Both the East and West Night Core shuttle routes will continue to operate. Current shuttle schedules are posted at all on-campus bus stops, and are available on-line, and in print at campus Transportation Information Centers.