Lextran and UK need to work together to put more buses on the road for students who live off-campus.

Route 15 buses during the semester take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to pick up people after the afternoon hours. I live in an apartment complex along Route 15, and I have to wait close to half an hour to get back to my apartment from the UK steps on South Limestone after 4 p.m. Sometimes, the buses are so slow that I make it a habit to allow myself 45 minutes of traveling time before I have to be somewhere on campus. This can add stress to a college student’s life as well as cause students to be late to class.

By putting more buses and drivers on the road, wait times would be shorter, travel times would be faster and more students could get to campus faster.

I have been riding the Route 15 bus every day during my time here at UK. While Route 15 is slow, there are routes that are much slower, like Routes 5 and 11. I know people who wait at the side of the road almost an hour for one of these buses to come and pick them up, sometimes in the pouring rain or blistering cold temperatures during the winter. This is not only ridiculous but also hazardous to people’s health.

How can Lextran remedy this situation? Look to UK’s Blue and White Routes for inspiration. There are a lot of Blue and White Route buses going around campus during the semester and students rarely wait long for them. This results in students and even employees being able to get to their destinations faster.

One of the biggest obstacles to this is figuring out the process of finding and hiring new drivers. A possible solution to this dilemma could also help make a dent in the homeless population in Lexington: train and hire persons who are homeless to drive the buses. This solution involves a lot of work and juggling red tape with ID requirements, but wouldn’t it be worth it? Lextran would get more drivers, the homeless population would potentially go down and people would get to their destinations faster. This would be beneficial for UK students and and the Lexington community alike.