The extended hours of the White Loop officially took effect early this morning, and the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) is putting together an extensive campaign to garner support for the initiative.
The White Loop will now add two hours to its current run time and extend bus service until 4:30 a.m. The extension is only in effect Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. The new hours are on a trial run for this semester.
The first step in its campaign was a trip to Findlay and Johnston Commons in East Halls on Thursday evening. UPUA members handed out flyers and encouraged freshmen to take advantage of the new bus hours, as the policy was geared
especially toward on-campus students.
UPUA Student Life and Diversity Chairman Christian Ragland said students were initially skeptical of the flyers, but were more welcoming once they discovered the extended hours.
"People just think it's another thing we're handing out," he said. "But when they take it, they're like, 'yeah!' "
Ragland (junior-political science) said UPUA is working on other ways to spread the word, including a potential partnership with Residence Life for a door-to-door campaign.
The White Loop extension has been one of UPUA's major projects and came into being after negotiations for a proposed "Highlands Loop" fell through. At Wednesday night's general assembly meeting, $11, 040 in funds for the initiative was released.
Many students in East Halls were enthusiastic about the new White Loop hours.
Morgan Delaware (freshman-journalism) said she had forgotten about the extension until the flyer was in her hands.
"He just reminded me, and I got really excited," she said, adding that she would definitely be using the extension.
Other students said they were surprised that initiative was successful and by the length of the extension.
"I was surprised by how late it was going to go," Michele Studer (freshman-marketing) said. "I'll definitely take advantage of it."
This weekend, UPUA will be monitoring student usage of the extended hours as they look to the future of the initiative, as it is the first major UPUA activity of the semester. Members of assembly, or "ambassadors," as they are calling them, will be riding on the White Loop during the extended hours over the next several weeks.
Blake Bonnewell, an off-campus representative, said he was glad the White Loop extension was successful after the UPUA's long battle for late-night transportation.
"It's not like we're encouraging people to go out, we're just getting them home safely," Bonnewell (junior-mechanical engineering) said.
