Students are experiencing unreliable live tracking and other complications on the Terrier Transit app, which is proving challenging given Boston’s freezing January temperatures.
Boston University issued a “bitter cold weather” alert to students Jan. 20 urging students and faculty to take extra precautions to protect themselves the first week of classes. From Jan. 20 to Jan. 27, the highest temperature was 40 degrees Fahrenheit, with the lowest as cold as 10 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 23 miles per hour, according to Weather Underground.
Senior Timothy Thai frequently takes the Boston University Shuttle to The Fenway Campus Center Dining Room because he prefers the food there to the dining halls on Commonwealth Avenue.
Thai said he no longer relies on the Terrier Transit app because its live tracking feature is not accurate for the Fenway Campus BUS. Instead, he uses the BU Transportation Services website, which has a “Live View” tab that allows him to track the buses.
“It’s not super accurate, but it’s the best you can get,” he said.
Junior Letitia Caspersen said she prefers walking home over taking the BUS.
“It’s a pain to wait around for the BUS,” she said. “Last year when I first downloaded [Terrier Transit], it was difficult to understand when the BUS would be coming where and which buses go where.”
Caspersen, who is from New York City and is used to walking everywhere, said cold weather can make the walk to Fenway difficult, but “you can just bundle up.”
Thai said most of the estimated arrival times listed on Terrier Transit are inaccurate. If the tracking label is green, it’s “very accurate,” but grey tracking numbers not as much.
Junior Nkechinyere Onyiriuka shared a similar sentiment about the tracking labels.
“This past year, it’s barely been green, so it’s been kind of a guessing game,” she said.
Onyiriuka said the BUS schedule was more consistent during the fall 2024 semester. She has seen multiple buses arrive back-to-back at the same stop this semester when they should be more staggered.
“It’ll be like, the Fenway BUS came, and then a minute later the 1BU BUS came, and then 15 minutes later the Comm. Ave. comes, and then nothing comes for the next 30 minutes,” Onyiriuka said.
There is also a lack of communication about interruptions in the lines, Onyiriuka said.
“They’re not good at updating it,” she said. “ [Administrators] send an email when breaks happen, or when things are happening, but on the app, it doesn’t really reflect that,” she said.
Onyiriuka said she has trouble planning her day because the BUS time estimates are often inaccurate, so using them to get to class on time can be complicated.
Onyiriuka said the issue is not the drivers, but the system in place. She once developed a good relationship with a BUS driver she would see often.
Growing up in the greater Boston area, Onyiriuka said she has dealt with poor public transit her whole life, but it wasn’t until college that she had to learn to navigate it all the time.
The BU shuttle service is similar to the greater Boston public transportation system, Onyiriuka said.
“It all sucks,” she said.
BU Spokesperson Colin Riley said students have grown accustomed to utilizing the BUS service within the Charles River Campus to navigate campus.
“This is a very walkable campus,” Riley said. “One of the easiest ways to avoid any problems is to give yourself plenty of time to get to class.”
Riley said he estimates the BUS services eight million riders per year, which is “pretty extraordinary for a small community” like BU.
“We understand some frustration,” he said. “But certainly, traffic is unavoidable.”
