SA begins updated Grocery Bus initiative
Joe Zhao | Video Editor
The grocery buses will pick up and drop off students at the College Place bus stop between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sundays for the remainder of the semester. Shopping locations include Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Wegmans and Target.
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Syracuse University’s Student Association launched its expanded No Problem Too Small feedback collection project last week in an effort to improve feedback collection from students. The association has also begun its new Grocery Bus Initiative, a replacement to its former Grocery Trolley system, after newly-established SU guidelines prohibited the use of trolleys in most off-campus travel cases.
No Problem Too Small is a way for students to voice complaints to SA. The association now has five separate forms addressing different aspects of on-campus life: transportation, housing, academics, dining services/catering and general student experience.
These changes aim to give more clarity and yield improvements quicker, SA President German Nolivos said during the association’s Sept. 30 meeting.
SA leaders tabled at Schine Student Center last week to collect feedback from students face-to-face and inform them on the updates to the form. They also encouraged students to continue to engage with SA using the form, Nolivos said.
Nolivos said SA will share feedback from students with the university’s Board of Trustees at a later date.
SA ran its first grocery bus on Sept. 29. The association will provide students with free weekly transportation to local grocery stores, according to a Sept. 26 release from SA. While similar to the grocery trolley system, the new program uses an external vendor for transportation.
The grocery buses pick up and drop off students at the College Place bus stop between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sundays for the remainder of the semester. The bus schedule excludes Nov. 23, which falls during the Thanksgiving Break.
Every week, the buses bring students to different grocery stores in the area, including Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Wegmans and Target. The schedule is available on SA’s Instagram.
In spring 2024, an SU student survey found that almost half of SU’s undergraduate students find it difficult to access grocery and pharmacy items. Respondents cited poor public transportation resources for this accessibility concern. SA first introduced the Grocery Trolley initiative in 2022 for the same reason.
The project was spearheaded by SA’s University Affairs team, Nolivos previously told The Daily Orange. He said SA is proud to return the “essential” service to students.
Published on October 6, 2024 at 9:30 pm
Contact Duncan: digreen@syr.edu
