The U-DASH lunchtime shuttle between UC Davis and downtown Davis is free again. Also, two campus stops have been added.

Shuttle riders and prospective users suggested the changes, according to officials at Unitrans, which runs the shuttle in cooperation with the Davis Downtown Business Association.

The U-DASH minibus started up in mid-June as a way for students, faculty and staff to get to and from downtown for lunch and shopping. (U-DASH service continues Monday through Friday through Dec. 23, then shuts down over the holidays before resuming again on Jan. 4.)

People rode for free during an introductory period; during this time, U-DASH averaged 20 boardings a day. A $1 roundtrip fare kicked in Aug. 3, and from that point on, until the fare's elimination on Dec. 4, boardings averaged 10 to 15 a day.

For students, at least, the fare itself was not a problem, said Geoff Straw, Unitrans general manager. In fact, even with the fare, people could still essentially ride for free, by paying $1 upfront and then visiting any of the many businesses that offered $1 discounts to U-DASH riders.

The problem boiled down to convenience, Straw said, explaining that many students do not carry cash — preferring to use electronic forms of payment instead.

Reaching farther for riders

U-DASH began last summer with just two stops on campus, one on the north side of Shields Library, on Peter J. Shields Avenue (south side of the Quad), and the other at the southwest corner of the library, along Hutchison Drive.

Unitrans and the Davis Downtown Business Association, in surveying people about their use or nonuse of the shuttle, discovered that many prospective riders are employees who said they work too far from the Quad and Shields — too far to make it to either U-DASH stop and still have time to go downtown and back during lunch.

“Ironically, due to their more remote location, these are the people least likely to come downtown at lunchtime, and are those most likely to benefit from expanded U-DASH service,” Straw said in a news release.

The expansion took effect Dec. 14, with the addition of a stop at the Silo, and the other between Lot 56 and the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility in the Health Sciences District.

Straw said Unitrans identified efficiencies in the U-DASH system, so, even with two new stops, the two-bus operation (one outbound to downtown, the other inbound to campus) can complete a loop in 10 to 12 minutes (compared with 10 minutes before).

U-DASH operates from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. The updated route map is available online.

U-DASH makes four stops in this order after leaving campus:

• Second Street between D and E streets

• G Street between Second and Third streets

• Third and E streets

• First and D streets (last stop before returning to campus)

Back on campus, the shuttle makes five stops in this order:

• Southwest corner of Shields Library (westbound Hutchison Drive), to drop off riders returning from downtown

• Silo (westbound Hutchison Drive), to drop off riders returning from downtown

• Health Sciences District (between the Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility and Lot 56)

• Silo (eastbound Hutchison Drive), to pick up riders heading downtown

• North side of Shields Library (Peter J. Shields Avenue, south side of the Quad)

Green transportation

From the beginning, U-DASH promoters saw the shuttle as a “green” transportation option. Indeed, some of the funding comes from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District. Other funding partners are the Davis Down Business Association and the city of Davis; Unitrans provides the minibuses.

“We continue to believe in U-DASH as green way for UC Davis staff and students to access downtown Davis, a green destination,” Straw said. “We are looking forward to increased U-DASH ridership.”

Officials also see U-DASH as a way to ease the lunchtime crush at the Memorial Union and the Silo — especially in 2009-10 when the Coffee House is closed for renovation and the CoHo’s temporary facilities elsewhere in the MU are small.

For more information about U-DASH, contact Joy Cohan, director of the Davis Downtown Business Association, at (530) 756-8763 or joy@davis downtown.com.

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