Students without a car on campus have a friend in The University of Alabama’s Transportation Services, which provides several auxiliary services in conjunction with the city of Tuscaloosa for students needing to get around town.
The CrimsonRide transit system has been on campus since 2007 and continues to expand.
“The University of Alabama has some type of transportation services operating 24 hours a day except when school is officially closed,” Director of Transit Ralph Clayton said. “The system has expanded services to include 348-RIDE on-demand vans, 348Express Route, Downtown Express, Shopping Shuttle, Airport Shuttle and charter services.”
Transportation services tries to distribute information to students during orientation and keep updated information on its website and social media.
The Downtown Express operates Thursdays through Saturdays from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. with seven stops, including Jefferson Avenue behind the Pi Kappa Alpha house, Colonial Drive beside Reese Phifer, Publix, Mellow Mushroom, Innisfree and the Walk of Champions.
Shuttles to the Birmingham Airport from campus are available during specific times during the fall and spring semesters, most notably the Thanksgiving holiday and spring break.
Another service, GOTCHA Ride, operates day and night, and its goal is to provide students, faculty and staff safe transportation free of charge, Susan Caples, assistant director of transportation services, said.
“GOTCHA Ride is an open-air electric vehicle that seats six people,” Caples said.
Ride sharing is also becoming a popular form of transportation on the UA campus. Since March 2011, Zimride, the University’s network for ridesharing, has had 1,731 cumulative users, and in the last 90 days, 103 people have used the service.
Additionally, the car-sharing service Zipcar now has two cars on campus since launching at the University.
“Zipcar has been really convenient,” Kindle Williams, a sophomore majoring in chemical engineering, said. “I have a bike on campus, and that can only get you so far. So if we want to do anything out on the town, we’re very limited to friends with cars. It’s a way to have access to freedom without having to buy a car.”
