Wake Forest students warm up to shuttle service

It links the campus with popular downtown spots

By: Tim Clodfelter | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: January 25, 2009

On the first night of Wake Forest University's new shuttle service, there were no takers. But that changed dramatically the second night.

The free service, which is available only to WFU students with an ID, travels between the campus and downtown Winston-Salem on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. It makes stops at businesses popular with the students: Finnigan's Wake, the Millennium Center, Foothills Brewing, Fourth Street Filling Station, Burke Street Pub and West End Opera House.

Thursday, it got no riders. Friday, there were 88 riders.

Once word started getting out about the shuttle, things picked up, said Regina Lawson, the Wake Forest chief of police, who is overseeing the service.

A front-page story in the Old Gold & Black, the student newspaper, on Thursday afternoon and an e-mail sent out Friday to the student body helped increase awareness of the shuttle.

And Thursday "wasn't necessarily a total loss, because it gave the drivers a chance to get to know the routes and communicate with the business owners," Lawson said.

"Students really wanted a way to get downtown and have for the past couple of years," said Lauren Hubbard, a senior who is the student trustee on the school's Board of Trustees. The route that has been selected, she said, "really hits many of our favorite spots."

Jermyn Davis, the president of student government and a junior, acknowledged that the program can also curtail drinking and driving. "Our drinking and driving numbers are very low, but it's always a concern," he said. "You have to be proactive rather than reactive."

He rode the shuttle on Friday night and said he was pleased with the results. "Students always say, ‘Why can't we have a shuttle downtown?'" he said.

Friday's riders, Lawson said, were "pretty evenly dispersed between 8 to midnight and midnight to 3."

The shuttle bus departs from Lot C in front of Benson University Center starting at 8 p.m., with additional departures about every 30 minutes. One shuttle runs during the 8 p.m. to midnight shift, and two run from midnight to 3 a.m.

"I think this is a good service to get our students more infused in the downtown community," Lawson said.

■ Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.