Let’s be blunt: Evanston is cold. We Northwestern students all knew what we were getting ourselves into when we decided to attend college near the infamously frigid city of Chicago, but we might not have been aware just how long those four-times-daily walks up and down Sheridan Road would feel in mid-winter.
Luckily for us, especially horrid winter weather means that NU breaks out special Frostbite Express and Frostbite Sheridan shuttles for our convenience. Running only in near-Arctic conditions, the buses’ purpose is to help students avoid developing hypothermia on their way home from 8 a.m. orgo (which, we can all agree, is the cruelest death of all).
The University’s intentions were clearly good; the idea of extending Campus and Evanston Loop shuttle hours when the cold is so severe is really a no-brainer. There are serious flaws, however, in the idea’s execution: as Taylor Swift might say, the shuttles never, ever, ever come on time — like, ever. The buses are useless without a reliable schedule: What good does it do to take the shuttle home if the wait for it to arrive was so long you may as well have walked?
NU has made a genuine effort to make students’ lives easier. However, there is significant room for improvement. Until there exists an accurate schedule, I can only share the wisest words I’ve ever heard: Don’t forget your jacket.
— Caryn Lenhoff
