Quinnipiac University will add two express shuttles from the York Hill campus to downtown New Haven every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, Assistant Chief of Security, Parking and Transportation Harry Needham said.

The express shuttles will be marked as “New Haven Express” and will make direct loops from the York Hill campus to New Haven between 8 and 11:20 p.m. After 11:20 p.m., the two 50-person shuttles will loop from South Lot on the Mount Carmel campus to York Hill and then to New Haven. These express shuttles are in addition to the six that run directly from South Lot to New Haven until the last bus returns to South Lot at 3:25 a.m.

Needham made it clear that students riding directly from York Hill to New Haven should get in line early since there are only two buses with a maximum capacity of 100 students for the entire York Hill population (1,020 students).

“If students leave York Hill at 8 p.m. and both buses are full, the shuttles won’t be back much before 10 minutes to 9 p.m. because they have to go to downtown [New Haven] and back,” Needham said.

Ben Wald, Student Government Association’s liaison to security and transportation, initially told the Chronicle that York Hill-New Haven express shuttles would run this weekend. Needham confirmed the report and provided the specific schedule and routes of the two new shuttles.

The idea of express shuttles originated as a student concern, Wald said, but the Student Leadership Advisory Committee made it one of its initiatives to present to the administration in one of its four meetings together each year. SLAC is chaired by SGA President Louis Venturelli and is comprised of several organization leaders on campus.

SLAC accompanied the news with a safety memo advising students to take safety precautions in downtown New Haven. (See full memo below)

“It is important for all of us to bear in mind that New Haven is a city and is susceptible to crime,” reads the memo. “It is with utmost sincerity that we would like to ensure that your years at Quinnipiac are some of the best years of your entire life. We ask that you please take care of yourself and others while enjoying all that the city has to offer.”

Memo to the Student Body on Safety in New Haven 3