Niner Transit has had an increase in staff shortages on campus. This issue has led to the discontinuation of the Gold Line service.
As a result, the only bus routes available now for students to take are the Green and Silver, with an additional service of the Purple route for students in expanded housing.
"During the spring of 2022, our transit partners, Academy, had trouble keeping up staffing levels," Katie Turner, marketing director for auxiliary services, said. "Staff were assigned to the Silver and Green routes first since those routes cover nearly all of campus, including stops in close proximity to Gold Line stops."
When the Gold Route was no longer available, UNC Charlotte's bus tracking app, Passio Go!, notified students of this change to the bus lines.
"Instead of [spreading] staff too thin and continuing to have less reliable Gold Line service, the decision was made to discontinue that service temporarily," Turner said. "[The decision will also allow] staffing resources to maintain frequent and reliable service on the Silver, Green and Purple routes," Turner said.
In data for 'Ridership by Route' trends in the years before COVID-19, bus ridership for the Gold Route each year decreased. These data trends resulted in stopping Gold Route buses, but it still meant a difference for students and staff.
UNC Charlotte's Parking and Transportation Services (PaTS) staff have made sacrifices to keep the routes running.
"Some office staff who are not routine drivers have gone into the field to drive shuttles to fill staffing gaps. PaTS staff have been extremely dedicated to doing all they can to make sure operations continue as normally as possible so students can have a great on-campus experience again," Turner said.
If enough staff is hired, Niner Transit hours and routes will likely be restored to their original state.
PaTS Assistant Director for Transportation Michael Christenbury said, "We are beginning to see more candidates for our posted positions, and I'm hopeful we'll see continued improvement in this area."
This semester's changes in bus routes have caused current students to swiftly change their original routes from the previous year. Student opinions on the bus routes can be found in a Niner Times video interview via the Niner Times Youtube.