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By Greg Bartlett

College life is stressful. Freshmen who are living away from home for the first time take a while to adjust to college life. Some things, such as inconsistent bus schedules are almost impossible to adjust to. Catching a bus every day in order to get to class can be very frustrating, especially early in the morning when you’ve slept through your alarm and only had 10 minutes to get ready.

Students waiting for the bus

No one likes to wait, especially when there is a delay. If the bus comes at 8:45, people can muster up the patience to wait until 8:45. But if the bus has not appeared by 8:46, frustration and panic mode sets in. The students know that as the minutes tick by, they will be later and later to their classes.

This fall, students at Boston College will know if their bus is running late, because the college will have GPS tracking systems in their shuttle buses. Students will be able to look online and see where the shuttle buses are that go back and forth between the two campuses, Chestnut Hill and Newton. The addition of GPS tracking systems will be very helpful to the many students (roughly 1/3 of the college’s freshman class) who live on the Newton campus but attend classes at the Chestnut Hill campus. Dining halls and sports facilities are also located on the Chestnut Hill campus.

The administrators at Boston College have noticed that the inconsistent bus schedule has been a problem and caused a lot of frustration for the students who live on the Newton campus. These students have had to wait for buses that are delayed 5 to 15 minutes. Students who are forced to wait this long for a bus are going to be late for their classes, which could cause them to miss important information or announcements by the teacher. They would also miss quizzes given at the start of class or lose valuable class time they need on test days in order to complete their test.

Tracking the shuttle buses online with GPS Fleet Tracking will allow the students to know exactly when the bus will arrive, giving those who got up late a few extra minutes to get ready or calming the nerves of those worried about being late. College is about learning and administrators who have incorporated GPS tracking systems want their students to be as prepared as they can be for their classes.