Wichita State leaders assess first week of expanded shuttle buses on campus

“Keep Calm and Shuttle On.”

Leaders at Wichita State University, trying to sort out how things are going with parking and bus riding during the first week of school, are sending out a welcome team to ride WSU shuttle buses. Team members are wearing shirts with the shuttle “keep calm” admonition and passing out granola bars and shuttle route maps to bus passengers.

The team also is counting riders and assessing how things are going with parking, which is always a talked-about issue on the campus, said Joe Kleinsasser, a university spokesman.

The university lost parking spaces when it built the new residence hall. For the fall semester, which began Monday, WSU added a second place in Wichita to park and catch a ride to campus.

People needing to get to the WSU campus can park at WSU’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex at 5015 E. 29th St. North, about one mile north of the main campus. The complex houses university offices and conference rooms.

And now they can park at another lot at 21st and Oliver and get a shuttle bus ride.

At some times during the day, hundreds of people were using the buses, said Kleinsasser, one of the welcome team members. He counted 110 riders in the hour and a half he rode the buses in the morning.

Anyone wanting help with parking can look at wichita.edu/onestop or visit Room 122 in Jabara Hall, Kleinsasser said.

This story was originally published August 19, 2014 at 7:10 AM with the headline "Wichita State leaders assess first week of expanded shuttle buses on campus."