University of Maryland seeks campus input on Shuttle-UM route redesign

A ride to class, a shift at work or a late-night trip home could take a different path across College Park as the University of Maryland asks students, faculty and staff to weigh in on the first full Shuttle-UM route redesign in more than 20 years.

The Department of Transportation Services says Route Reset is a comprehensive, cost-neutral overhaul of the campus bus network, with any system-wide changes not expected before Fall 2027. The survey is open through May 5, 2026, and respondents can be entered to win Apple AirPods 4, a $150 University Book Center gift or a Summer Break Blind Box valued at $150.

DOTS is working with Kimley-Horn and coordinating with the Campus Transportation Advisory Committee as it studies how Shuttle-UM should evolve. The current system still runs 19 fixed routes in Greater College Park, and the university says the buses remain fare-free. Shuttle-UM also includes paratransit service for students, faculty, staff and visitors with disabilities, with 24-hour service during the fall and spring semesters.

The timing matters for riders who depend on the buses to reach class, jobs, dining halls, residence halls and campus services without a car. The redesign comes as the university and Greater College Park have changed substantially since the shuttle network was last comprehensively reviewed, and it arrives as the Purple Line inches toward full operation in December 2027. University transportation officials say the new east-west rail line, which will run through the Purple Line corridor, is one reason to rethink how Shuttle-UM connects the campus to the rest of the region.

That includes links riders already use every day. Route 104 connects students to the College Park Metro Station, and Shuttle-UM also serves as a connector to regional transit through WMATA, the Maryland Transit Administration and county bus systems. In Prince George’s County, where campus traffic and community travel overlap, any shift in shuttle timing or route spacing could affect not just movement around the University of Maryland campus but access to the broader College Park area.

The redesign is also being shaped by the university’s fleet plans. Armand Scala, senior associate director for Shuttle-UM, said the study will examine operational impacts from running a mostly electric fleet by 2027 or 2028. UMD archival material says Shuttle-UM merged with the Department of Campus Parking in 2002 to form DOTS, and earlier university profiles have shown how central the service has become, with annual ridership topping 3 million rides in one reporting period and a 2024 profile citing more than 1.1 million rides, 50 buses, 62 full-time drivers and more than 30 student drivers. For riders who build their day around the shuttle, the next redesign could redraw one of campus life’s most important daily systems.