By Kirsten McDonald, Contributing Writer
The UNH Transit application provides students with times and maps of the Wildcat Transit — both on and off campus. The app has six sections, all equipped with real time updates and bus schedules.
The University of New Hampshire has been providing students across campus with an easy accessibility to transportation with the UNH mobile app.
The application has six different sections regarding transportation. This includes live routes, transit schedules, transit stops, stops-near-me, Google Transit and getting to campus. Many students use the app to check what time buses are arriving at different times and also what routes are in action during a specific day.
“Since I live in Christensen Hall, it is helpful for me to use the transit app to predict when the buses are going to different stops. I use the buses to get to my classes, since Christensen Hall is far away from my buildings where I have classes,” freshman Christina Brown said.
Not only do the buses come in handy for students getting around campus, they can also provide convenience for those who are traveling to the towns surrounding Durham. Traveling to Portsmouth for dinner or lunch, or just to simply get off campus, is something all students at UNH do at some point. For students that don’t have cars, the buses can provide them with transportation.
“Personally, the bus here at UNH is a lifesaver. Living in the Gables is great until you realize you are a 15-minute walk from the closest academic building. Without having my car here, the bus is a great help with getting to class everyday,” sophomore Erin Campbell said.
The University of New Hampshire has both campus connector routes and public transit routes. The public transit routes include Dover, Newington, Newmarket and Portsmouth. Both the campus connector and transit routes are available for the public to use. The app has been available since Aug. 2013 with real time information. Prior to the app, there was only static schedule information that was not constantly updated.
Michael Amicangioli, who works for the transportation services at UNH, said, “This technology has helped revolutionize the way students, faculty and staff access transportation and helped to improve ridership. The information available has been very helpful in assessing route performance and filling gaps in the transit system on campus.”
Academic Technology and University Transportation Services are constantly working together to improve the application with multiple updates released every year. Recently, they brought Google Transit into the UNH app where students can plan transit trips in advance.
“Having the real-time information available has helped the riders plan better and actually avoided complaints,” Amicangioli said.
