In the midst of renovations and the construction of the Athletic, Wellness and Event Center , parking spaces have become more of a challenge. As a result, freshmen and sophomore residential students must keep their vehicles at either the Green Road, Jewish Family Experience Temple Lot (JFX) or Notre Dame College parking lot.
For these students’ convenience, shuttles are available to make sure they have transportation to and from the offsite lots to John Carroll’s campus. The shuttles at JCU have been running for almost five years and operate seven days a week: Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and Saturday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m.
For those worried about cost, a fee to use the shuttles (which was only applied to those parking their vehicles at either JFX or Notre Dame College), was included in the parking permit fee that was paid at the beginning of the year.
Jenna Seifried, the coordinator for JCU Parking, strongly encourages students to take advantage of this feature and spread the word about its existence to others.
Seifried informed The Carroll News on behalf of JCU Parking, “We have tried our best to communicate in as many ways as possible through email, Inside JCU notifications, website updates, as well as parking fliers that the shuttle is available for all Green Road. and Notre Dame College permit holders.”
Utilizing the shuttles could be a good option for students as it prevents them from having to walk to their vehicles all the way from JCU which may be deemed unsafe, especially at night. Emily Medina ‘27 uses the shuttle at least once a week and doesn’t prefer traveling solo to the Notre Dame College parking lot.
“I know a few people who park at Notre Dame [College] and they usually don’t like going alone at night to get their car. I’ve tagged along with people on multiple occasions. Of course, it gets a little spooky at night going somewhere as a young college female, [but] it makes hanging out in a parking lot alone a little [less scary.]”
The shuttles have only one continuous route and will not drive to locations outside of its designated path. The first stop is right outside the DeCarlo Varsity Center on South Belvoir Boulevard next to the blue “shuttle stop” sign. It then heads to the JFX lot, Notre Dame College lot and circles back to JCU. One circle takes a shuttle approximately 30 minutes to complete.
Whenever there are athletic matches held at JCU, South Belvoir Boulevard is closed due to tailgating. As this occurs, the shuttle’s pick-up location is temporarily relocated from the DeCarlo Varsity Center to the corner of Washington Blvd. and South Belvoir Boulevard
Prior to the beginning of the 2022-2023 academic year, Notre Dame College reserved space on their property to pave a 150 spot parking lot. This space is just for JCU freshman and sophomore resident students to keep their car when they’re not using it. The Green Road JFX has 75 spots and is also reserved specifically for JCU freshman and sophomore residential students.
Notre Dame College student, Rachel Radkowski ‘26 said, “I am very pleased we get to share our space with the JCU community. It allows for easy access to the school and allows students from different schools to interact with each other.”
ADA vans are used as JCU shuttles and could fit between 10-12 students. The shuttles follow the standards of JCU and it is always expected that students respect the drivers and fellow passengers. During the week, drivers Mark and Vivian alternate between driving the shuttles. Over the weekend, Cassandra and Christopher do the same.
Lydia Bennett ‘26 travels on the shuttle with friends twice a week. She informed The Carroll News that her group always uses the official shuttle tracker to ensure they catch the shuttle on time. “It’s sometimes slow to load but it is reliable.”
It’s important to be mindful of both personal and shuttle schedules. In order to make a shuttle early, time management has to be used effectively. For example, heading straight to the DeCarlo Varsity Center after class instead of running a quick errand will prevent tardiness.
There are two shuttles at JCU, a “blue” and a “gold” one. A live tracker of both shuttles was created last spring to prevent anyone from missing them. Be sure to open the link and watch the route while waiting for the shuttle. The active shuttle will be highlighted by a green arrow. Make sure this website is saved onto a device for easier access.
