A decision between Penn State officials and the Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) has changed the names of the Loop buses from "Campus" and "Town" to "Blue" and "White."
The electronic banner displayed on the front of the buses now reads "Blue Loop" instead of "Campus Loop" and "White Loop" instead of "Town Loop."
"The goal is to make it easier for incoming students," said Jackie Sheader, marketing coordinator for CATA. "Students might find it confusing if they've been here before but when they ride it, it'll be easier."
CATA also added a bus to the Link service and changed the route names to "Red Link" and "Green Link." The Red Link, covering the original Link route, operates between the Bryce Jordan Center, Stadium West parking lots and West Campus, Sheader said.
The Green Link is the route added this year. It provides daytime weekday service between the Stadium West lot and Allen Road during the fall and spring semesters. The Green Link runs in a clockwise direction along Curtin Road and Park Avenue until noon, then reverses direction for the remainder of the day.
The Blue and White Loop routes will remain the same as the former Campus and Town Loops, but some students find the name switch unnecessary and confusing.
"They didn't explain it to us," Danna Ramos (junior-health and human development) said. "I'm kind of confused."
Other student Loop riders agreed with Ramos.
"It's more confusing. Most people don't know which is which," Danilo Canepa (senior-aerospace engineering) said.
CATA operations supervisor Richard Wollett said once students are familiar with the route formats, it will be easy to understand the switch.
"They'll see that the Blue Loop starts going down Curtin Road to the Bryce Jordan Center. The White Loop leaves the Bryce Jordan Center and goes up to Burrowes [Street]," he said.
Duane Castaldi (senior-earth science) called the name change "cheesy."
"It seems funny to me," Castaldi said. "Both buses were in town and both buses were in campus. It has been a little confusing."
Penn State spokesman Tysen Kendig said like any change, people will adjust to the switch over time.
"The Blue and White Loops will become just as commonplace as the Campus and Town Loops," he said.
Wollett said he thinks Penn State wanted the colors chosen for the name change to be "Blue" and "White," keeping in accordance with the school colors.
However, Kendig said he is unsure how much Penn State was involved with the name change.
"I'm sure it was a well-thought-out decision and something that will be better for everyone in the long run," he said.
Kendig said he is not aware of any costs to the university associated with the Loop name changes. Money from Penn State makes the free service possible.
