ft. gillig low floor bus parent university of maryland college park umd founded 1972 headquarters 424 paint branch drive locale college park maryland baltimore maryland service area prince george s montgomery baltimore service type bus service demand responsive transport charter service alliance university of maryland baltimore umb university of baltimore ub universities at shady grove usg routes 31 hubs adele h. stamp student union umd regents drive parking garage umd pearl street garage umb depots umcp shuttle facility fleet gillig corporation freightliner trucks ford motor company chevrolet setra daily ridership 11 200 2015 1 annual ridership 2 956 600 2015 1 fuel type ultra low sulfur diesel diesel electric operator department of transportation services umd parking and transportation services umb chief executive david allen executive director website shuttle um um shuttle ub shuttle shuttle um is a transit system for the university of maryland college park umd which constitutes the um acronym of the company that operates as a unit of the university s department of transportation services . the system is student run and is supported by student fees and the university s student affairs department . 2 its fleet consists of over 60 vehicles and transports approximately over three million riders a year . 2 the system provides four different services commuter evening charter and demand response . 3 the latter consists of a paratransit service and a call response curb to curb service during the evening while the former consists of a bus service that runs for 24 hours seven days a week . implied by its name the bus service routes shuttle passengers to and from the university with over 20 different routes . paid upon admission by students to the university the services are complimentary and only certain services require university identification badges . in 2012 the company expanded to provide service to the university of maryland baltimore umb campus under the name um shuttle . additionally a new facility was built to house shuttle um s operations and fleet within the campus after over 30 years of being housed off campus . contents 1 history 1.1 1970s 2000s 1.2 2010s 2 fares 3 structure 3.1 management 3.2 driving staff 3.3 maintenance 3.4 training 3.5 dispatch 4 routes 4.1 current 4.1.1 university of maryland college park 4.1.2 university of maryland baltimore 4.1.3 university of baltimore 4.2 former 5 seasonal routes 6 fleet 7 references 7.1 general 7.2 specific 8 external links history edit 1970s 2000s edit shuttle um was established in november 1972 by the university of maryland college park s umd black student union as an initiative to promote security for students walking through campus during the evening hours . operations began with the use of two vans to circulate campus which were purchased by umd s student government association sga the campus student governing body through approval by the office of commuter student affairs a campus organization supporting students commuters . the operations were run in the basement of a residence hall on campus and consisted of running the vans on two fixed routes . by spring 1973 the residence hall association the governing body for the campus dormitory halls donated an additional van which led to three fixed routes running through campus in the evening . 4 by the end of the system s first year of service 65 000 had been transported . 4 the following year saw the addition of daytime routes to operations to parking lots and the establishment of call a ride which was the original first curb to curb service for the transit system . 4 in 1975 four mercedes benz vans were purchased to expand the fleet to six vehicles . this same year the name shuttle um was established three years after being a service provided by sga shuttle um was now an independent entity for umd . 4 upon the transit system s independence charter service was added to its operations in 1975 ; the following year saw expansion to the curb to curb service with disability transit service for handicap persons ; off campus routes were established in 1976 . during the fall of 1978 shuttle um s first facility was built on an off campus parking lot on greenhouse road adjacent to baltimore avenue . 5 the new facility known as umd building 013 featured a 12 000 gallon underground diesel tank numerous maintenance bays and a bus wash bay . upon 1979 the project that started as a security service expanded to a transit system consisting of 10 routes with over 20 vehicles . 6 barri standish was hired as the first non student full time staff member to serve as the general manager for shuttle um to provide student guidance in transit operations . 4 through 1985 and 1988 the greenhouse facility was expanded to allocate growing operations with administrative offices and maintenance bays . 5 shuttle um s expansion in 1985 also composed of ridership growing to 1.1 million passengers annually and employing 125 student employees that took the positions of drivers dispatchers maintenance assistance trainers and managers . 6 by 1986 shuttle um became a member of the american public transportation association and the transit association of maryland . 4 within 1999 and 2001 the facility s maintenance bays were expanded to accommodate the growing fleet caused by the growing ridership ; the administrative offices also underwent a further expansion in 2001 to accommodate growing employment . 5 2010s edit for several years the annual ridership remained above 2 million ; however during the 2011 12 academic year dots started an initiative that would reward their three millionth rider with free books for a school year which ultimately commenced in their first year with 3 million riders . 7 in 2012 the construction of a brand new facility was completed on paint branch drive within campus adjacent to the xfinity center . this new facility fit into dots mission and goal to be more sustainable . a shuttle um 35 ft. gillig low floor bus the facility included geo thermal heating and cooling systems a green roof and an in ground filtration system to separate run off diesel and storm water in the fueling area . the new facility was able to house all administration that was expanded within the years at the greenhouse facility and featured an above ground diesel tank that stored 2 000 gallons more . 5 shuttle um gillig advantage at prince george s plaza shuttle um saw its first expansion with the introduction of its um shuttle service for the university of maryland baltimore campus which strictly serves the surrounding baltimore areas near campus . president jay perman reached an agreement with umd to answer requests of the umb community to obtain a shuttle service within campus . in august 2012 um shuttle officially launched and began to transport staff faculty and other members of the umb community with three distinct routes . the vehicles for these routes are operated in baltimore but housed in the paint branch facility and driven by umd employees . like shuttle um university id s grant access to riding the shuttles for umb . 8 fares edit shuttle um and um shuttle are complimentary services via paid student fees and umd s student affairs funds . 9 10 additionally living complexes and businesses pay the organization to run the service in their area which allow riders to ride by just showing drivers a university id not limited to university of maryland system schools . 11 residents of college park were granted access to shuttle um s services via a program approved by city council in 2010 which granted residents passes to show drivers . 12 13 in september 2012 the city of greenbelt passed a similar program to that of college park allowing passes for its residents to use shuttle um s services . 14 structure edit shuttle um although as separate entity in the beginning is now a branch of dots along with campus parking enforcement . both are housed at the paint branch facility ; however customer inquires regarding parking operate out of regents drive garage offices . located at regents drive garage are the directors of dots which is overseen by senior director david allen the directors delegate planning and oversee activity of every branch of the corporation . every driving staff member for shuttle um that holds a commercial driver s license cdl is assigned a unit number which are uniquely grouped to identify different departments and status . these unit numbers are used to eliminate the usage of full names while having radio contact and have an important role in operations for the company . 5 management edit the shuttle um and campus parking enforcement operations branches of dots are overseen by its senior associate director armand scala who directly reports to allen . the two chief executives are regarded as being at the top realm of company operations who work directly with numerous full time chief operatives . under the executives are the full time shift supervisors who directly manage the full time driving staff . student managers have the responsibility of managing student driving staff alongside being responsible for running several departments of the organization s operations such as dispatch and demand response . 5 driving staff edit the drivers for shuttle um are all required to have a cdl class b with passenger and air brakes endorsement . these requirements are to be met in order to operate the vehicles in shuttle um s fleet . although completely composed of student drivers upon the company s inception as of 2013 staff now features non student full time and part time drivers . the full time driving staff have a set schedule package that they select before every academic semester fall winter spring and summer for umcp consisting of 40 hours . students are required to be enrolled at umcp or university of maryland university college umuc the latter due to the sister school sharing the umcp campus in order to be eligible to go through cdl training with shuttle um . students are given the opportunity to obtain their cdl granted upon that they complete a semester s worth of driving where upon they have the option of leaving or exploring different departments to work for . like the full timers students select shifts before the spring and fall semesters only which are their weekly permanent shifts . unlike full time staff students have more flexibility in choosing individual shifts rather than packages . 15 maintenance edit maintenance is overseen by the fleet maintenance manager who operates through numerous full time field managers . these on site managers are in charge of coordinating service to all vehicles in the fleet for shuttle um and campus parking enforcement which both make up dots . service done to these vehicles include but are not limited to preventative maintenance dot inspections and fixing mechanical problems . maintenance operates out of multiple bays located in the paint branch facility which facilitates their work due to the facility also housing parking for all vehicles . 16 training edit the training department consists of certified cdl full time instructors that are responsible for coordinate training to drivers students and full timers who which to seek employment with shuttle um and obtaining a cdl license . training consists of multiple sessions that gives drivers numerous hours of training through range and road exercises in order to prepare them for cdl exams administered at the motor vehicle administration mva . upon their cdl completion training is also responsible for giving orientations of all shuttle um commercial vehicles in order to give all drivers and equal opportunity in driving routes that require different vehicles . 17 dispatch edit the dispatch department is responsible for transit operations in regards to all services provided by the company including demand response and fixed routes . all dispatchers are students who are