U of A Augustana Campus launches new shuttle pilot project

The University of Alberta Students’ Union (UASU) has partnered with the Augustana Students‘ Association (ASA) to launch a new shuttle bus pilot project. The bus will provide transportation between North Campus in Edmonton and Augustana Campus in Camrose. 

The pilot project has an anticipated launch date of February 21. The seven-passenger van will be rented from U of A transportation services, and will provide transportation for U of A students, faculty, and staff, according to the ASA manager of student life and student services, Randal Nickel.  

From September to November 2024, a FlixBus pilot project connected U of A students between Edmonton and Camrose for free. However, the project ended on November 8, 2024. 

“We did have a good ridership, but it wasn’t enough to have the FlixBus run long-term,” Abdul Abbasi said. Abbasi is the vice-president (external) for the UASU. 

Abbasi added that because FlixBus seats 55 people, it was “hard to be [a] sustainable” option. However, the shuttle “is going to be a sustainable option.”

“The shuttle service seems like a really good idea,” Nicolas says 

Currently, the only transportation options for Augustana students to travel from Camrose to Edmonton is to take a taxi, according to Nickel. According to Joanna Nicolas, ASA’s vice-president (communications), the shuttle service is a more affordable option.

“The shuttle service seems like a really good idea because it’s cheap enough that students can actually afford it without losing their grocery money or rent.”

According to Abbasi, taxi prices can exceed $100 when traveling between Camrose and Edmonton.

“We’re in an affordability crisis [and] for a student to pay $150 to $200 one-way, or $300 to $400 for a round trip, to come to Edmonton is not a feasible option,” Abbasi said. 

“I think [it’s] particularly important for international students as well, who would tend to have fewer transportation links,” Nickel said. 

According to Nickel, accessible transportation between Camrose and Edmonton has been an issue for Augustana students for a few years.

“It’s been identified by Augustana students for quite a few years as a real barrier and gap in service” Nickel said. He added that the consultations for the Student Experience Action Plan (SEAP) identified the lack of a transportation as a key barrier for students. 

“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Abbasi says 

The shuttle is set to provide transportation between Augustana Campus and North Campus without any other stops in Edmonton or Camrose, according to Nickel. 

“It’ll run a couple of round trips a day, two days per week to start, and then we’ll move from there once we hopefully continue to create that case that it’s sustainable and and much needed,” Nickel said. 

According to Abbasi, it is “very important” to connect Augustana Campus and North Campus. “It really means a lot in making sure that they’re finding that flexible and sustainable option. Whether [students are] coming for the Career Centre or [the] University Health Centre, or all of other things we have here,” Abbasi said. 

Nickel added that the shuttle will allow Augustana students to come to North Campus for events that are not available at Augustana Campus.

“We have students that do want to come to those events … but just physically cannot get there,” Nicolas said. 

At the same time, the shuttle would allow North Campus students to visit the Augustana Campus more often and participate in their events.

“[Augustana does] a lot more than what North Campus sees. So it would be nice to have some North Campus people coming down to see our events while we come to see theirs,” Nicolas said.

”There still is a lot of work to be done,” Abbasi added.