Chatham University recently updated its schedule for shuttles from the Shadyside campus to the Eden Hall campus, leaving some students with limited transportation options between Shadyside and Gibsonia.
Starting this academic year, shuttles to the Eden Hall campus changed to run once on Mondays and Wednesdays and three times on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with the last one departing from Eden Hall at 4 p.m. The Eden Hall shuttle previously ran multiple times daily.
Dr. Lou Leonard, former dean of the Falk School of Sustainability & the Environment, tasked Dr. Linda MK Johnson with creating a shuttle schedule for Eden Hall in summer 2024, and she worked with Public Safety and the transportation team to find a schedule that aligned with constraints.
Administrative Changes
Johnson, associate professor for the Falk School of Sustainability and Environment (FSSE), said that she has seen changes in the shuttle system every year since she became a faculty member.
“Running the shuttles is expensive, bus drivers are getting scarcer and empty runs waste the university’s money, which we know is already constrained,” Johnson said.
Johnson said that sustainability was also a significant factor in making decisions about the shuttle schedule, as 40% of shuttle runs from spring 2025 did not transport any people. Cutting down on traveling back and forth reduced those empty shuttle runs.
“This results in both a huge cost savings to the school as well as a more ecologically responsible use of energy for a school with a sustainability focus,” Johnson said.
Micheal Ericksen, fleet coordinator for Chatham’s shuttle system, said in an interview that the shuttle schedules are made to align with the course schedules established by faculty and Academic Affairs.
“We also factor in driver availability and gaps in support of daily shuttle activities, athletic needs and other events or Student Affairs activities,” Ericksen said.
Chatham currently employs four shuttle drivers, all of whom have a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). A CDL is legally required in Pennsylvania to drive a vehicle designed to transport 16 or more passengers. There is a high demand for drivers who have a CDL due to a nation-wide bus driver shortage. Ericksen said that Chatham is hiring more drivers but is using outside shuttle providers as backup.
“For returning students, it is different from their past experiences and that can be a tough adjustment,” Johnson said. “There are fewer options, but we now have ridership on nearly all runs, making this new schedule much more efficient and sustainability-aware.”
Student Perspectives
The changes have posed challenges for some students. Natalie Golgan ‘27 takes a class at Eden Hall that ends at the time the last shuttle leaves for the day. Out of the 14 classes taught at the campus, two end at the same time the last shuttle for the day leaves, and one occurs after the last shuttle has departed.
“Sometimes we’re literally in the middle of the woods for class, and we have to make sure we have enough time to get back to the [Esther Barazzone Center (EBC)], put our equipment away and then make it to the shuttle stop,” Golgan said. “It’s totally doable, but it makes me a little nervous and cuts down on our class time.”
Rachel Coyne ‘27 had to drop six credits worth of classes on the first day of the semester, she said, after realizing she wouldn’t have access to transportation.
“On the first day, we had to arrange a carpool to even get to class and spent a lot of the class time discussing solutions to maintain reliable transportation,” Coyne said.
Despite the professor’s attempts to find solutions, Coyne said that stress and uncertainty led her to drop the course.
“I met with my academic advisor twice, along with Career Development and an Eden Hall professor to figure out the best course of action just to make sure I could graduate on time in light of the changes.”
Amari Spivey ‘26 also said that students and faculty have created a rideshare network so everyone has a way to and from Eden Hall. When preparing to work on Eden Hall’s farm team, Spivey had to find coworkers who worked at the same time as her in order to secure transportation.
“The good thing with ridesharing is that it has allowed me to build stronger connections with my classmates and professors, since we support each other when it comes to shuttle issues,” Spivey said. “Ridesharing can help, but it’s not always reliable, since plans can fall through [at the] last minute.”
Coyne is one of the many students who run organizations based at Eden Hall, such as the Archery Club and Society for Ecological Restoration.
“By cutting shuttles, we are directly losing the engagement and community that aligns with one of Chatham’s core values of sustainability.”
Golgan and Spivey described positive experiences in their first years of taking classes at Eden Hall; the shuttle would run back and forth most of the day, five days a week, and made it easier to get to class on time. The recent major shifts to the schedule have impacted that experience. Spivey said that the limited shuttles make the Eden Hall campus feel more isolated from the rest of Chatham.
“We’ve had to turn around before to pick up students who missed the last shuttle, which wasn’t pleasant for anyone involved,” Golgan said.
However, getting the shuttle to turn around is not usually an option for students.
“If I miss the 9 a.m. shuttle, I won’t be able to catch another one in time to make it to class,” Golgan said. “It’s very unforgiving.”
Following the closure of Orchard Hall last academic year and now the reduced shuttle availability, students express concern for the future of the Eden Hall campus.
“There are events at Eden Hall that still happen, and with the lack of shuttles, it feels like Eden Hall is being put on the back burner [and] deprioritized which is disheartening,” Spivey said.
McKenzie Tokar contributed to this article.
