The Roo Express shuttle service, the bus loop which provides transportation on campus and the surrounding area, is undergoing big changes. Effective Monday, July 31, the Roo Express will have a new operator, a revamped route, new buses, extended hours of operation and reduced waiting times for riders. Additional benefits of the revitalized service will be in place when the fall semester begins at the end of August.

On Monday, Akron METRO RTA will take over the operation of the new Roo Express service. The shuttle will continue to run Monday through Friday, but with expanded service hours that will begin at 7 a.m. and end at 11 p.m. each day. The shuttle will continue to serve an extensive number of campus locations, portions of downtown Akron, and the neighborhoods south of Exchange Street and east of Route 8. Several stops are being added, and each stop will have a bus stop sign to indicate its location.

Responding to past feedback received from students, faculty and staff, the shuttle will no longer follow a one-way loop route. Instead, it will become a line route service that will mostly retrace its outbound path on the inbound portion of its trip. This means that there will be no need to take a long ride around campus to get to a destination that is relatively close. Buses will be traveling in both directions.

METRO will provide this service using its extensive fleet of buses, which are all accessible, equipped with easy-to-use bike racks and offer free WiFi. The buses will soon feature additional branding and METRO’s GPS tracking hardware, which sends real-time transit information directly into Google Maps – no special app required. The buses will move with increased frequency to reduce passenger waiting times.

Students, faculty and staff ride free on this and all of METRO’s fixed routes throughout Summit County: just swipe your Zip Card through the farebox. Campus visitors and community members may also ride the shuttle, but will be required to pay the regular fare or have a METRO day pass.

Additional information, including a route map and stop locations, is available at www.uakronpark.com/shuttle-services/. For more information about other METRO routes and services, visit https://www.yourmetrobus.org/. For questions, email info@uakronpark.com.