The Park And Go Shuttle Service Gets Students To School at Their Convenience
By: Madi Trepus
Student Writer
For students who hate to wake up at the crack of dawn to get parking at the main campus, Green River offers The Park and Go as a means of transportation.
The Park and Go service is a place where students can park their car at the Pacific Raceways and every 10 minutes or so a shuttle comes and picks up everyone who needs the ride to the campus. This program has opened up more parking options for Green River College students and it acts as a great way to make friends and create ease into the day-to-day.
There is always campus security at Pacific Raceways, who help students park and make it easier for students to leave without being held-up. However, it is not entirely certain when the shuttle arrives.
“The drivers were always super nice, but it was sort of inconvenient because it was easy to be late to class having to wait for the shuttle to come,” said Ethan Miller, a Green River College student.
One thing Miller did not love about the shuttle was that it tended to move rather slowly when picking students up, making it harder to make it to class or home on time. Luckily, Miller found a friend who was willing to drive him to his car after school, which helped him get home at a more convenient time.
Another student, Taelor Fry, started riding the Pacific Raceways shuttle for the first time this quarter because she could not afford the $100 quarter parking pass like she did her first quarter at Green River. Although Fry has not been with the shuttle service for long, she only had good things to say about it.
“The drivers have always been very sweet and always say good morning and tell you to have a nice day. I have never had an issue with the shuttle service, other than the wait,” Fry said.
A few students had mentioned being worried about the snow in Auburn earlier this month disturbing the shuttle service route. With there being snow the second week of January, only one school day has been canceled, and the shuttle service has run smoothly ever since.
The only real complaint about the shuttle is that it tends to run late, leaving some students to be late to class or stuck in the cold. Yet, students had a lot of nice things to say about the drivers, who would spark up little conversations and small talk to make the rides go by a little bit quicker.
It is remarkable that even some of the shyest Green River students had formed bonds with the shuttle drivers. Miller said that he had established small friendships with the drivers, having used the Park and Go service since his first quarter at the college.
Both Miller and Fry live 30 minutes outside of Auburn and work part-time jobs, so even though Pacific Raceways is not much farther from the Green River campus, it still helps them save gas and money. The Pacific Raceway shuttle service has more benefits than negatives and has helped lots of students who are not able to find a parking spot on campus or willing to pay $100 a quarter for a guaranteed parking spot.
Photo Cred: Rakesh Kommanaguta
