Shuttle wastes money

The new shuttle service offered by the university for students and faculty may have come from good intentions, but let's face it: Such a service is a waste of money and should be discontinued.

The service, which transports people from the university to the neighboring Caltrain depot, aims to "encourage people to leave their cars at home," Campus Safety Director Charlie Arolla told The Santa Clara last week.

However, the transit program simply encourages laziness, fiscal waste and needless environmental harm. The 125 riders, comprised mostly of faculty and staff, are benefiting from a program subsidized primarily by campus parking fees and violations.

Are there no other improvements to campus parking that could benefit from the $4,500 monthly black hole that is the campus shuttle service?

The walk to the station is a meager .2 miles, only taking about five minutes. There is really no reason for the shuttle service to exist.

The university constantly stresses the need for students to be socially and environmentally aware. What does a program that sponsors an empty van to circle campus at 12 to 15 miles per gallon say about the university's own commitment to environmental awareness?

While the university prides itself on sustainable development and environmental protection, especially in its construction of the "green" building in the Kennedy Mall, the hypocrisy of having an empty, gas-guzzling, air-polluting van ferrying passengers across El Camino Real is appalling.

Out of fairness to the students and faculty who subsidize (but don't benefit from) the shuttle, this page believes that the university should take the fiscally responsible route -- and discontinue its service.

A program that would shuttle students and faculty to more destinations -- at their cost -- is worth discussing. But, at this point, there is no reason for running borderline-empty busses over distances a few football fields in length.