Senators from the Undergraduate Student Government are reaching out to students to gain support in expanding the Shark Shuttle routes to the beach, downtown Fort Lauderdale and other popular locations.
SGA Athletic Senator Kelsey Obringer, senior political science major, said that the service would be free and that the main consideration for the route is Las Olas, where there would be multiple stops for students to go to the beach and other downtown Fort Lauderdale locations.
“It gives students an option if they are downtown and need to get back to campus,” she said. “They know they’ll have the security of the Shark Shuttle and that they will get home safely, instead of getting a ride from a stranger or use public transportation.”
To implement the route expansion, Obringer and Warlich met with William Faulkner, associate dean of student development, and created a survey to ask students where they would like the new routes to go. After the survey closes on Jan. 30, they will then analyze the results and present their findings to Anthony Iovino, assistant director of Physical Plant, to discuss the logistics of the shuttle.
Obringer, along with SGA Athletic Senator Bethany Warlich, sophomore business administration major, hope to present a resolution for the route expansion at a weekly SGA senate meeting as soon as possible and have it put into place before the end of the semester. They are waiting for the survey to close and analyze the responses to figure out the logistics of the expansion.
Warlich said that many students like her don’t have a car, which makes it very difficult to explore outside of Davie.
“It’s sad that we live in Fort Lauderdale, and there are students who have no idea what’s in downtown Fort Lauderdale or where they can go out to eat or anything,” she said.
Once logistics are finalized, Obringer and Warlich will write a formal resolution to present at an SGA senate meeting, where attendees will vote on whether they want to pass it or not.
Obringer came up with the idea of the expansion after learning about the University of Florida’s Later Gator transit system, which takes students to popular locations Wednesday through Saturday evenings for free.
She and Warlich both agree that this system would help keep students safe when they go out at night and on weekends.
“If you choose to go to downtown Fort Lauderdale, the Shark Shuttles keep people safer because you know who you’re with, and everyone’s going together back and forth,” Warlich said.
To suggest a route or voice your support for the resolution, contact Obringer at ko235@nova.edu or Warlich at bw726@nova.edu. To take the survey, visit opinio.nova.edu/opinio/s?s=11258.
