With the recent introduction of a weekend shuttle to the Inner Harbor, Hopkins and the Collegetown network are saving students the usual $20 it takes for a round trip to the popular dining and tourism spot. Not too shabby - that's enough for a filling meal and some cheesecake to go.
Thanks to the demands of many Hopkins students last year, the Baltimore Collegetown shuttle has included the Inner Harbor as one of its stops on weekends at the beginning of February. Friday nights, the shuttle makes stops at the Harbor between 5:30 p.m. and midnight. Saturdays, the shuttle makes stops from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Now that this demand has been met, students' responses to the new service are mixed.
Some students aren't even aware of this resource that is available to them.
In fact, when asked if he had taken advantage of this new addition to the shuttle route, sophomore Hal Miller replied, "The harbor's included [in the route]? That's cool. Do other people know about this?"
Most students who have actually heard about the Inner Harbor shuttle have either only used it on rare occasions or haven't bothered to take the ride yet.
Sophomore Jonathan Edward, a one-time user of this new service, said, "It's nice because it's free, and even though it takes a while, the wait isn't incredibly long.
Even though the shuttle is not always on schedule, Edward said he would probably use the service again.
Sophomore Wesley Fredericks has yet to take the shuttle to the Harbor and, in the past, has taken a taxi instead. "Supposedly it is unreliable and has an inconvenient schedule. I think it would be great if they could get on top of stuff and make it reliable," he said.
Fredericks' comments seem to echo many students' complaints that the shuttle system frequently runs late, especially on weekends.
This common sentiment often results in frustration, and students opt to take a cab to the Inner Harbor instead, since it is a relatively short distance from the Homewood Campus and therefore does not require much cab fare.
Though it seems that this new service has not been taken full advantage of by Hopkins students, Freshman Louis Young says this may be in part due to the cold weather. "When it gets warmer outside, I think more students will use it," Young said.
The other part of the under-utilization of this new service is pure unawareness.
Many students, despite massive e-mails from class officers and other such announcements, have no idea that the Collegetown shuttle has now included the Inner Harbor as one of its stops.
Despite some of the inconveniences, such as the irregular schedule and long waits, it is still a free service, something which many penny-pinching college students find appealing.
And though it is not currently fully utilized, as the weather slowly gets warmer and the news slowly spreads, more and more students, it seems, will find themselves making more and more use out of this new, and sometimes accommodating service.
