With summer here, many students are escaping the Vanderbilt bubble in pursuit of internships around the Nashville area. Given that having a car on campus is a rarity, students are left to figure out how to get from point A to point B. With Uber, Lyft and other ride-share services being expensive and unsustainable over time, it is worth exploring an often overlooked option: public transportation.
As someone from a very small town in California, I came to Nashville having barely utilized public transportation. However, I have come to be completely reliant on it, specifically the WeGo public transit system, as it is free for all Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff. I have used it for Target runs, trips to downtown Nashville and even to cross campus in bad weather. During the summer, I used the bus system for weekly grocery runs, day trips to East Nashville and to see more of the community. From my experience, it has been easy to use, safe and relatively clean. Additionally, I have been satisfied knowing that I am part of a system that reduces traffic congestion, potential accidents and carbon emissions for the local community. As a student here in Nashville, I view myself as a guest with a responsibility to respect locals by not leaving the city in a worse state than I found it.
While this is my perspective, I was curious to explore how often students use it, how students and the university perceive public transportation as well as how the partnership with WeGo is performing. I decided to speak with the MoveVU office, which oversees Vanderbilt’s partnership with WeGo…