124 Shuttle-UM bus to require Shady Grove IDs starting next semester

University students board a Shuttle-UM bus.

Beginning next semester, commuters taking the 124 Shuttle-UM bus to or from the Universities at Shady Grove will have to present a Shady Grove ID.

Shady Grove has requested that the shuttle service be maintained, but only for students affiliated with its campus, said Anna McLaughlin, Department of Transportation Services spokeswoman. Shady Grove provides the majority of the funding for the route.       

“Anytime we can get someone into a bus, it’s a thumbs-up,” DOTS Director David Allen said. “But they simply can’t accommodate us anymore.”         

Because Shady Grove has no parking-management program, many University of Maryland students park on the Shady Grove campus and use the shuttle route to get to College Park, McLaughlin said. However, an estimated 400 to 500 daily riders from this university have made it difficult to accommodate Shady Grove students, Allen said.

“It has gotten to the point where 90 percent of the riders are park-and-riders, and only 10 percent of riders are affiliated with the Universities at Shady Grove,” Allen said.

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Shady Grove is initiating an active parking-management program that will require permits and gate cards, Allen said. Planned construction will also reduce the number of parking spaces at Shady Grove, making an alternative shuttle route even more important. 

An estimated 150 cars belonging to students and faculty at this university are being used for park-and-ride purposes at the Shady Grove campus, Allen said. In the spring, the lot will no longer be available for this type of use, Shady Grove officials announced.  

“If those 150 cars aren’t out there, they’re here,” Allen said. “We’ve put on the full-court press to find an alternative for those folks in Montgomery County.”

Current riders have been notified of the change through fliers in the shuttles and announcements on the DOTS website, Allen said. DOTS is finalizing an additional route so current route 124 riders affiliated with this university will have an alternative next semester, DOTS officials said.

“We really are committed to having a bus service between the Shady Grove area and campus that will be open to the University of Maryland community,” McLaughlin said. 

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DOTS is considering several destinations for a new route, said Armand Scala, DOTS senior associate director. Possibilities include Rockville, Olney, Gaithersburg and the Shady Grove Metro station.    

Each of these potential routes has pros and cons, such as its distance from the current shuttle location or a lack of free parking, Scala said. Officials hope the chosen location will be able to accommodate park-and-ride passengers with free parking. 

“Free parking would be ideal,” Scala said. “But as everyone knows, free parking is not always available.”    

Riders will be notified of details regarding the new route as soon as possible, Scala said.       

“When we roll out our spring routes on the first day of classes next semester, we intend to have a new Shady Grove route,” McLaughlin said. “We have been actively working on this for quite some time.”