In a crowd of intoxicated students, a designated driver is often hard to come by. The UW Oshkosh campus has a late night Titan Transit bus service in place for these very instances.
Students excitedly plan their nights of going to the bars or parties, and getting home is often the last thing on their mind. Most choose to walk home surrounded by the safety of their friends, but sometimes that walk ends up being much farther than they may think.
UWO students have access to Titan Transit’s normal operating hours seven days a week, which will take them from the campus’ neighboring streets to stores as far as Festival Foods or Target.
Titan Transit offers a late night service route, nicknamed the “drunk bus,” providing students with free rides from streets surrounding campus and down to Main Street. The late night service runs from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.
UWO senior Sam Walvort said she uses the late night bus because of the distance between her house and the bars.
“I live far away from the bars, so it’s a safer option than driving or relying on a friend to drive,” Walvort said.
Walvort said she thinks the bus isn’t used as much as it could be because people aren’t aware of the route the bus takes.
“I don’t think enough people know that it is an option or where it goes,” Walvort said. “[those who know about it] don’t think it’s going to go by their house.”
The UWO website has a link hidden in the depths of its Division of Students Affairs page linking students to maps of the bus routes, but this isn’t enough. Students should be aware of this service, especially during weekends like Pub Crawl, so they can make the safest choices possible.
Fifth-year UWO student Natalie Moser suggested the campus should actively promote this service to students by including it in the campus announcement emails as a reminder.
“I think it is underutilized because it is never advertised on campus and students don’t know about it,” Moser said. “It provides a safe alternative to students who might otherwise drive drunk.”
With a weekend like Pub Crawl approaching, UWO should remind students of this free service available to them. Emails with the maps and times of the bus routes should be sent out so students know that they have options besides walking, risking driving or paying for an Uber.
Instead of making endless attempts to crush the Pub Crawl weekend, campus needs to acknowledge that students are going to partake in it either way, and it is the school’s responsibility to tell students of all the options they have available.
Students should remember to utilize options provided to you that help you get to and from where you’re headed. Enjoy the festivities of Pub Crawl weekend, and all others like it, while still remembering to crawl safely.
