The Student Government Association (SGA) will offer shuttle services to the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for students going home before Thanksgiving break, but will not be offering shuttles to bring students back to campus from the airport after break.
The shuttles will leave from Asbury Circle on Nov. 20 during noon to 7 p.m. and on Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. The shuttles will leave every hour on the hour.
SGA Chief of Staff and Goizueta Business School junior Matthew Willis – who drafted the bill with SGA President and College senior Ashish Gandhi and College freshman legislator Sumaali Chheda – said students need to sign up for the service via the information desk on the second floor of the Dobbs University Center (DUC).
The list will remain open until Nov. 19, the day before the shuttle service begins.
There is limited seating on each bus, which can take 29 passengers and their luggage at one time. Willis encourages students to sign up in advance to avoid not getting a seat.
Due to a large amount of interest, SGA decided to add an extra shuttle that will run from 1 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Willis said that students who were unable to find space on a shuttle earlier in the week may be able to find space with the extra lists added this morning.
Some students have expressed a need for better advertising of the service.
College sophomore Mike Filer thinks the shuttle service is a great idea but said he didn't know about it last year and used the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) instead.
"But now I am definitely going to use the service this year and years to come," Filer said.
Filer said he has never taken an Emory shuttle back to campus from the airport and instead uses MARTA or shares a taxi with other students.
Willis said that having shuttles running from the airport back to campus would not be feasible because, "to take back the same amount of students from the airport, you would have to have shuttles running all the time."
Willis said that using funds to solely get students to the airport instead of dividing the money up to offer service both ways is more logical and will benefit more students.
"I know last year I personally signed up for the shuttle and then couldn't find it. As it turned out, the shuttle wasn't even there," Willis said.
Willis said SGA made the changes to the shuttle schedules this year in order to help as many students as possible with the amount of money allocated to such a service.
There is about $4,000 allotted in the bill for shuttle service, according to Willis.
College freshman Alan Bleiberg said he is happy that there will be free shuttles to take him to the airport.
However, he also said he would prefer to take a shuttle back from the airport but realizes it would not be possible since hundreds of flights are coming in all at different times.
Bleiberg said he will split a taxi with friends or take MARTA to Lindbergh Station, getting a cab from there back to campus as an alternative solution when returning from break.
Willis said he hopes students will utilize the buses and noted that if all the slots fill up before Friday, he and SGA would work to add more shuttles.
He also said he wanted to thank Program Coordinator Wanda McMullen for working quickly with the team and SGA for making the shuttle system happen.
– By Nicholas Sommariva
