Shuttle-UM drivers won in a driving competition against other university’s shuttle drivers at Maryland Day on Saturday, April 25.
Thirty student bus drivers steered through 11 obstacle courses set up in Lot 11B on Saturday for the “Bus Roadeo” competition.
To test which university boasts the best student drivers, East Carolina University and University of Virginia each sent a 10-person team to challenge Shuttle-UM drivers in a Maryland Day tradition that resumed this year after a three-year hiatus.
About 100 people looked on as this university placed first with an average score of 538.1 points out of a possible 625.
The top four individual scorers also came from this university, including senior Mark Wrathall, who scored 602 out of 625.
“It means a lot to win this as a school, and to have the highest score overall is a really great feeling,” said Wrathall, a mathematics major.
Each of the obstacles simulated real-life scenarios a student bus driver might encounter, such as parallel parking, making U-turns or driving down diminishing lanes.
Some obstacles were worth 25 points and others 50, and drivers lost 10 points for each cone they hit. Each driver had six to eight minutes to navigate the course, with a point lost for every second they went over or under. Drivers were also judged on two 50-point categories: their ability to finish the course within the allotted time and how well they used safety measures, such as turn signals.
The purpose of the competition was not to only have fun, said senior Richard Stevens Jr., but also to reinforce the basic skills bus drivers learn in training.
“This goes backs to the basics and really brings the skills you learned in training to the forefront,” the sociology major said. “A lot of these obstacles are based on maneuvers you would make at [a Motor Vehicle Administration] test to get your license to drive on the road.”
Although a Bus Roadeo used to be held every Maryland Day, no competition has been held here since 2011, said Armand Scala, DOTS senior associate director. In 2012, student drivers traveled to University of Virginia’s campus for the event.
“We really hope to make this an annual event with other schools,” Scala said.
Stevens said winning the competition gives student drivers a sense of accomplishment.
“Being able to maneuver these vehicles through an obstacle course in a reasonably short amount of time, and doing it safely, is another set of bragging rights that says, ‘Not only am I a young driver, but I’m a great one, too,’” Stevens said.
