The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect people’s schedules as many CSU students and employees continue to learn and work primarily from home, leading to less activity on campus and an 85% drop in ridership for the on-campus Around the Horn bus route. As a result, Around the Horn is reducing services effective Jan. 25, to adjust to the decreased ridership demand and to protect Transfort drivers and the public from COVID-19.
Horn buses will move to a modified schedule, including going from 10-minute frequency to 20-minute frequency. A reduction in the number of buses transporting per hour will increase wait times, but also decreases face-to-face interactions and potential spread of COVID-19.
“To protect the drivers, we’re going to have fewer interactions with fewer buses,” said Aaron Fodge, director of alternative transportation at CSU Parking and Transportation Services. “This is a balance of running the buses and meeting the demand, but also not exposing the riders and drivers to COVID.”
The Horn schedule changes also include a decrease in the length of evening service by 1.5 hours, with the last Horn buses departing from the Moby stop at 6:14 p.m.and Veterinary Teaching Hospital at 6:15 p.m. every day from Monday through Saturday.
Alternative transportation options still available
Individuals affected by the changes in the Horn schedule still have a variety of transportation options.
Many Transfort routes operate later into the evening, and all route schedules are plugged into Google Transit and the Ride Transfort website, where travelers can plan their trip and see available options.
SafeWalk, a service hosted by the CSU Police Department, has trained campus service officers who will walk with individuals from any location on university property to another university-owned location or within a three-block radius. The free service operates seven days a week, from dusk until dawn.
The Emergency Ride Home program is available to CSU employees who use alternative transportation and need to get home. The program covers the cost of checking out a Zipcar to get home in an emergency. Regular ZipCar memberships are available to students and employees at CSU.
RamRide and Lyft have partnered for the spring 2021 semester to offer students up to four discounted rides a month as funds are available.
About Around the Horn
Around the Horn was established in 2014, connecting the entire CSU campus, including the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and south residence halls to the CSU Transit Center. The route is one of the most popular routes in the Transfort system.
For more information, contact Fodge at Aaron.Fodge@colostate.edu.
