The Mills College shuttle route has been revamped for the upcoming school year.
The shuttle’s main route previously consisted of a stop at the Rockridge BART station before heading to the UC Berkeley campus, with stops at the Laurel District’s Lucky supermarket upon request. The Department of Public Safety and Division of Student Life have been working together to change the route in light of the College’s switch to an on-campus health care center through a partnership with Kaiser Permanente.
Officials have proposed stops at the MacArthur BART station, a Kaiser Medical Center, and along MacArthur Boulevard near Lakeshore and Lake Merritt.
In an email dated Aug. 14, Dean of Student Life and Vice Provost Joi Lewis described the proposed changes to the student body. She said the changes “will hopefully provide great opportunities for all Mills students.”
While Lewis said in the email that the shuttle would no longer go directly to the UC Berkeley campus, Director of Public Safety Michael Lopez said the Sproul Plaza stop had not been removed.
Both Lopez and Niviece Robinson, Assistant Director of Campus Safety, said the changes to the shuttle route have not been finalized, but will officially be introduced to students sometime in the first week of classes. Lopez also said a new map of the shuttle route will be available.
Additionally, the new shuttle van purchased by the College over the summer will be running starting Wednesday. Lewis said the new van is larger and “is expected to provide adequate capacity on all runs, with no riders left behind due to the bus being full.” In the past, the 16-passenger shuttles often filled up too quickly, and drivers were instructed not to let more students on than there were seats.
The new shuttle contains 32 seats with 12-person standing room, according to Lopez. “No one will be left behind,” he said.
