Over the past several years we have all become used to seeing the school bus type shuttle making its way back and forth from main campus to Lakeside… if you look very carefully at the photo below you can actually see Ned Mahoney clinging to the roof.. he’s the one wearing a white shirt.
However there have been discussions going on at the very highest levels …
The Board of Trustees:
The President’s Office:
The Faculty Senate:
…to replace the existing familiar shuttle with something that has a bit more style.
Unfortunately the Batmobile was not available. But we continued to look…
And look…
Other means of transport were considered:
We even considered:
We had managed to talk David Provost into being “test fired” out the prototype but at the last moment we (he) decided to go with another option: Jim Mackin. One of our own. Unfortunately Jim revived during the loading process and put up such a spirited defense we had to stop trying to load him. The mission was scrubbed.
We even asked Joe Biden for an opinion but were unable to wake him up.
Announcing and coming soon to a shuttle route near you:
The 2013 Freightliner Sprinter Van
(At this point I’d like to ask all of you to quietly hum to yourself the “ Battle Hymn of the Republic” as you read the description of the van below. ‘Mine eyes have yada, yada..terrible swift sword.. grapes of wrath’..you remember.)
With air conditioning, more comfortable cloth seats, a whisper quiet Mercedes low sulfur emission engine, tinted windows and increased headroom this new addition to our shuttle system will soon be running back and forth from Lakeside to main campus. And Yes, Virginia, there will eventually be a bike rack; we’re looking at options.
The primary vehicle that runs from 7am-6pm will have our name and emblem on it to help identify it. The second Sprinter which will come online down the road (sorry- couldn’t resist) will run the peak times of 7:30-9:30am and 5:00-7:00pm.
It’s going to look a lot like this…
To promote the usage of this vehicle we are going to be offering valuable incentives to our faculty and staff.
First prize will be an evening shooting rats at the local landfill with yours truly.
