New campus construction has recently interrupted Colgate’s cruiser transportation system, leaving students unsure of pick-up times. Colgate University officially broke ground on the construction of the Benton Center for Creativity and Innovation on Sunday, Sept. 30 and the site — located between Dana Arts Center, Little Hall and James B. Colgate Hall — has temporarily closed a portion of Lally Lane, forcing the closing of the Dana Arts Center cruiser stop. The closure has changed traffic patterns across the Lower Campus as Lally Lane has ceased to be a continiuous roadway, now acting as two seperate extended parking lots.

This change has affected several cruiser routes including the townhouse and apartment routes, which help students living in lower campus residences get to the academic centers of Colgate’s campus and the major dining venues.

Although the online cruiser schedule timetables — available on Colgate University’s website and the TransLoc app — were changed, junior Sophia Yee said she was dissatisfied with how the schedule change was handled.

“I feel like it inconveniences a lot of people who live off-campus and in the townhouses, especially in the mornings. And there was no warning about it,” Yee said. “I feel like the school definitely could have handled this change better.”

Jay Brock, spokesperson for First Transit emphasized the role construction has played in the changing of the cruiser routes.

“Due to the number of construction projects on campus, schedules and bus stops may need to change throughout the school year. We encourage students to download the Colgate Cruiser Mobile app to get real-time schedule and bus location information,” said Brock

The sudden switch also caused fear of being late to class and the potential academic ramifications that may come with not getting to class on time, junior Abbie Sloan said.

“There is no warning if the cruiser time changes. It makes me late to class and appear disorganized and uncaring to my professors but it is a situation out of my control,” Sloan said. “Students deserve a reliable source of transportation.”

According to sophomore Sabikun Orpita, the TransLoc app has also been troublesome for students that still live on campus.

“The cruiser never arrives on time. Once we went to Price Chopper on a Sunday and it abandoned us in the middle of a rainstorm and we had like 3 bags of groceries,” Orpita said. “We waited for 30 minutes before the app updated and told us the scheduled cruiser isn’t coming anymore and we had to walk back to campus.”

Orpita also noted how the cruiser and app have changed from her experience during her first year on campus.

While the Colgate Cruiser’s schedule is subject to change based on availability, weather, time and drivers, students felt that these changes were different than normal operational adjustments.

“I think last year they at least used to give factual updates on the TransLoc app […] now we’ll have to wait 45 minutes for a scheduled cruiser and it never arrives,” Orpita explained.