The shuttle service between the Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses will be discontinued on Dec. 22 and replaced by the Valley's new light rail system five days later.
Shuttle services between Polytechnic, West and Tempe will not be affected, said ASU Parking and Transit Services Director Theresa Fletcher.
Maintaining the shuttle service between Downtown and Tempe would be redundant and cost-ineffective once light rail goes online in December, Fletcher said.
“We would be replicating a financial source,” she said.
While the shuttle usually stops about once every half hour, the light rail will stop every 10 minutes and take about 20-25 minutes to go from Tempe to the Downtown campus during peak hours, she said.
Peak hours last from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 3 until 6 p.m.
Light rail will also be less delayed by normal traffic patterns, such as accidents, so the schedule will be more reliable, she said.
“The light rail should be able to keep to a normal traffic schedule,” she said.
For the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the budget for inter-campus shuttles was about $3 million — the highest on record as demand for the services have increased, Fletcher said.
— Matt Culbertson
