Students will no longer need to brave Buffalo's winter to board a UB Stampede bus.
UB Parking and Transportation Services expects construction on its first heated bus shelter to finish by the time students return to campus in the spring semester. This will mark the first time in UB history that students will have the option to wait for a Stampede bus or shuttle in a heated shelter.
The shelter will be located in Flint Loop adjacent to the O'Brian Hall law building, said SUNY Delegate Mohammad Alwahaidy. He approximates the shelter will fit around 30 students.
Before running for SUNY delegate, Alwahaidy lived on South Campus and took the UB Stampede every day to North Campus, even in the winter. On average, he said he would wait 15-20 minutes in the cold for the Stampede. It was then he realized the need for a heated shelter.
"Sometimes when the wind really hit, it made you wonder what you were even doing in Buffalo," he said.
Though the bus stop was a major component of the Spirit Party's platform (Spirit swept the March elections), Travis Nemmer, last year's Student Association president, said SA has had interest in the heated shelters for a number of years.
UB Parking and Transportation Services Director Maria Wallace did not respond to multiple interview requests for this story.
SA Chief of Staff Jennifer Merckel and former President Nick Johns, who resigned in September, met with Wallace to talk about student interest in a heated bus shelter, according to Alwahaidy. The two met with Wallace twice to express SA's support and to provide input.
In September, Alwahaidy and SA Office Personnel Farhan Hussain met again with Wallace to discuss progress and receive a timeline on the heated shelter.
That's where SA's participation in the matter stopped, said SA Vice President Lyle Selsky. SA has no control over the bus shelter beyond giving UB its encouragement, according to Selsky.
"The [bus shelters] are going to happen," he said. "It's just a matter of time and everyone agreeing on the plans ... SA just expedited the process."
SA will not be paying any portion of the reported $60,000 cost of the heated bus shelter, according to Alwahaidy. He said the shelter will include solar panels and advertisements to offset some of the costs.
Alwahaidy thinks the absence of a heated bus stop on campus - given the city's history of frigid winters - doesn't make sense. He believes now is the time for UB to make an upgrade.
Brandon Charletta, a freshman mechanical engineering and applied sciences major, agrees. He, however, disagrees with the location of the planned shelter.
Charletta, who said he takes the Stampede at least three times a day, often from South Campus, believes students would use a heated shelter more frequently if it were placed outside the Student Union instead of O'Brian.
Krishna Chatpar, a freshmen bioinformatics major, echoed Charletta's sentiment. Chatpar takes the Stampede every day, waiting on average 5-10 minutes on North Campus and 15-20 minutes on South Campus. He agrees the Union would be a better location.
He added that when the shelter is finished with construction, he will likely take the bus from Flint Loop rather than the Union because of the heated shelter.
Alwahaidy said SA has no control over the placement of the heated shelter and that he believes if the first shelter is successfully put in place, the location of the next heated shelter will be either the South Campus Main Circle or by the Union on North Campus. He believes the Flint Loop was chosen because of its proximity to academic buildings.
Alwahaidy thinks the heated shelter will be placed close to the O'Brian Hall law building to also provide an indoor location for any potential overflow of students. It will also make it easier for the shelter's heating and electric systems to draw power from the building, he added.
Alwahaidy believes, despite the location, many students both off campus and on campus will use it regularly.
"It's going to be beneficial for everyone" he said.
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