Northwestern announced improvements to its campus transportation systems Monday, including new shuttle routes, updates to its Safe Ride services and plans for a future hybrid-electric bus fleet.

The new offerings are a product of NU and its vendor WeDriveU working to analyze recent ridership data in the last year.

“When it comes to serving the transit needs of the entire Northwestern community, it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Merrill Silverman, director of Transportation and Parking, in a Monday news release. “We’re trying to provide a mix of choices and services that is safe, convenient, easy to use and environmentally friendly.”

NU operates a medley shuttle route connecting its campus to downtown Evanston and Ryan Field. The Evanston Loop and Campus Loop have now been merged with new offshoots and stops added into both directions. The Student Gameday and Frostbite shuttle, which deploys when severely cold weather is expected, will operate unaffected.

The shuttle service change comes after NU announced the end of its Ventra card program that offered students free admission to the Chicago Transit Authority’s 201 route. That has since drawn the ire of students, who are concerned about the loss of a cost-effective public transit option.

NU will also purchase a new fleet of hybrid-electric shuttle buses to be used at the start of the next academic year. The move will result in the major loss of greenhouse gas emissions, equating to removing three diesel shuttles off the road, according to the news release.

NU’s Safe Ride services will be paired with a new app, called NU Transit, which will display options for Safe Ride vehicles and shuttle buses in real-time.

Safe Ride services will run from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. all week when classes are in session during the academic year. The NU Transit app will be available on the Apple and Google Play stores. Students who already have the Safe Ride app will not need to download the app.

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