Turlock Transit recently introduced a new on-demand shuttle service that aims to address a frustrating yet shared experience among college students: having to rely on others for transportation.

With the Christmas holiday and winter break are just around the corner, many CSU Stanislaus students are looking for ways to get home to see their families. Transportation apps like Uber and Lyft can get expensive and individuals may run the risk of getting their rides canceled or not finding a driver close by.

You may even know of someone who lives out of town and uses the Amtrak train service as their main source of transportation to go back home, especially if they live far. This is a great resource, but a downside may be having to think about how to even get to the station. 

Since the Turlock-Denair station is not always convenient, students without transportation may find themselves relying on others for their travel needs.

Mireya Banda (senior, Physiology) said she struggles with constantly having to ask people for rides. 

“I feel like since I am very independent I don’t like to depend on people much, but there’s times where I have to ask people,” she said. “It is also very hard to sometimes find transportation with buses because their times are very different from my schedule.”

She added that she just tries to make accommodations to find people that can give her rides.

A new on-demand shuttle service is making it easier and more convenient for people to catch the Amtrak train. The Amtrak Shuttle service provided by Turlock Transit picks up students from anywhere in Turlock and takes them directly to the Turlock-Denair Amtrak station, where they can catch a train to their destination.

Student Damaris Burt (senior, Business) and recurrent Amtrak service user, says he thinks the the new shuttle service is great.

“If this is true, that they are picking you up from anywhere only for $2.50, how can you lose?” he said. “It is better than Uber. I think a lot of people will take advantage of this if they’re smart and I think it is great for the community because we need things like this to help us move around in the city and get us to different places.”
This new service is affordable and better for the environment, which is also a plus. These large buses contain CNG (compressed natural gas), which is cleaner emissions than gas or diesel.

Rich Green, transit analyst at Turlock Transit, explains how this service came to be.

“We used to have a relationship with San State where they would essentially use student tuition to pay for passes for students,” he said. “With the pandemic, things changed. And now that students have come back into the campus itself, we’ve had more discussions with them and we have essentially provided the service for free now with not only students but faculty as well and staff.”

Green went on to talk about another part of the service called On’Demand, which he said is more of a specific customer service.

“It’s kind of like our version of an Uber or Lyft where you can call up and schedule a trip,” he said. “They come get you and they take you exactly where you want to go.”

If you want to learn more about this new service, check out Turlock Transit’s website. You can also call (209) 668-5600 at least one hour prior to the arrival of the desired Amtrak train to make a reservation.