UW-Eau Claire has introduced a new Transit app along with new bus routes. The general consensus about this: It has been difficult to manage. For first-year students and upperclassmen alike, it has taken some getting used to.

Fatima Chavez, a fourth-year women’s and gender studies student, said this new schedule takes up a lot more time than the previous one. 

Chavez has a lot of experience riding the bus at UW-Eau Claire. All her time spent at the university has helped her begin to understand the inner workings of the bus system. That all changed with the addition of the Sonnentag Center stop to the bus routes.

“Now that they added Sonnentag, there’s more time on the bus,” Chavez said. 

The Sonnentag Center is the newest addition to the UW-Eau Claire campus. Though it is a five minute drive from the main campus, many students have events and classes there. The Sonnentag stop has been a convenient addition to the bus routes for these students. 

According to The Hechinger Report, there is a connection between transportation access and graduation rates. When students aren’t able to access proper transportation, they have a hard time consistently making it to class, thus causing low graduation rates. 

While the university’s use of free public transportation has been helpful for some students, it has been a difficult adjustment for others because of the changes made.

Tashi Yangzom spoke a lot about the timing on the Transit app, to her it was always unclear. Tashi, a first-year student studying nursing, has been experiencing the bus and public transit for the first time. 

“I don’t like how the app is not on point,” Yangzom said. 

She hasn’t been able to fully grasp the bus schedule as a new student, and said that many other freshmen have this problem. 

“There’s only one bus after 5 p.m, so I don’t know when the bus will get here,” Yangzom said. 

After around 5 p.m., the 9 and 19 buses switch to one bus. This means that depending on the stop you get on at, it could take up to 30 minutes to get from Lower Campus to Upper Campus. 

Yangzom and many others struggle with understanding the new Transit app. Yangzom said the inaccuracy of the app has confused her and her friends, and she often has to find upperclassmen to ask for help. 

Chavez does what she can to help freshmen in need. 

“It takes trial and error,” Chavez said.

For Chavez, it took a few months and sometimes going on the wrong bus to finally understand the bus system in Eau Claire. With experience, she said it will be less of a struggle for them to adapt to changes made to that system. 

Arab can be reached at [email protected].