Shuttle-UM records
Collection
0039-UA
Shuttle-UM, a transportation service provided free of charge to University of Maryland students and employees, began as a nighttime security service in fall of 1972, with four buses and three routes in place by the following spring. Off-campus commuter routes were added in spring 1976. Today, Shuttle-UM offers commuter, security, paratransit, and charter services as a division of the University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services (UM-DOTS). As of the 2011-2012 school year, annual ridership exceeds three million persons, served by a fleet of over 60 vehicles. The Shuttle-UM records document the administration, operations, and history of the service. They consist of annual reports, publications (including reports, proposals, and employee handbooks and manuals), and other administrative materials, including correspondence, policies, meeting minutes, and forms. Also included are bus schedules and route information, dispatcher logs, shift schedules, staff listings and papers written about the history of the organization, as well as slides, negatives, and audio and video cassettes.
This collection is open to the public and must be used in the Special Collections reading room. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
This collection contains restricted material, please check the series and folder listings for additional information.
Materials of a sensitive nature, such as those containing personally identifiable information, are restricted for 75 years or the life of the individual and may by screened and removed by special collections staff. Please speak with a staff member if you believe that materials have been unnecessarily removed.
Photocopies or digital surrogates may be provided in accordance with Special Collections and University Archives duplication policy.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.
Archival materials may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during our processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.
14.75 Linear Feet
The Shuttle-UM records span the period 1975 to 2008 and document the administration, operations, and history of the service. The collection contains annual reports and publications created by Shuttle-UM, including employee handbooks and manuals, proposals, and reports, as well as papers written about the history of the organization. Bus schedules and route information, dispatcher logs, shift times and schedules, staff listings, and safety and ridership statistics document the daily operations of Shuttle-UM. The records also include numerous administrative materials, such as meeting minutes, inter-office correspondence and correspondence received from the public, policies, forms, facility plans, surveys and hiring and training documents. Slides and negatives of Shuttle-UM employees and vehicles, video and audio cassettes, and newspaper clippings are also among the materials in this record group. Documents in the Administrative Files and Daily Operations of a nature that would be found in a personnel file or containing sensitive information regarding passengers have been restricted.
Shuttle-UM is a student-managed transit system at the University of Maryland, College Park, campus, providing commuter, security, paratransit, and charter services free of charge to students, faculty, staff and visitors. The service is funded primarily through the student activity fee. During its first year (1972-1973), Shuttle-UM provided transportation to over 65,000 persons; during the 2011-2012 fiscal year, ridership exceeded 3,000,000.
The service was first established by students in November 1972 as a nighttime security service, in response to concerns about student safety. The Student Government Association purchased the initial two vans, and operating costs were provided by the administration, through the Office of Commuter Student Affairs. In the spring, the Resident Housing Association and the University Commuters Association each donated an additional van, and the number of routes was increased to three. During the following school year, daytime intracampus routes to the parking lots and an evening Call-A-Ride (now known as NITE Ride) were added. In the summer of 1975, four Mercedes mini-buses were purchased, and Shuttle-UM name was established. Charter operations were initiated in fall of 1975, followed by off-campus commuter routes in spring of 1976. Disabled transit service (renamed Paratransit during the 1989-1990 school year) began the following fall.
With all major facets of the operation established by the end of the 1970s, the transit system continued to grow in size and scope throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Barri Standish was hired as General Manager in 1982 and was succeeded by Maria Lonsbury (formerly the Assistant General Manager) in 1995. All employees except for the General Manager, Assistant General Manager, Maintenance Manager, and two Maintenance Supervisors were students, and all facets of the operation (including bus maintenance, driving, training, and dispatch) were handled primarily by students. The organization has been a member of the American Public Transit Association and the Transit Association of Maryland since the 1985-1986 school year.
In 2002, Shuttle-UM merged with the Department of Campus Parking to become the University of Maryland Department of Transportation Services (UM-DOTS), the primary agency responsible for administering parking and transit management programs on the College Park campus. The position of Shuttle-UM General Manager was eliminated, and as of the 2011-2012 school year, Shuttle-UM is overseen by DOTS Associate Director David Davitaia, under DOTS Director J. David Allen. Shuttle-UM remains a student-managed transit system under the auspices of DOTS. Student staff start as drivers and can move into dispatcher, maintenance assistant, human resources, training, marketing, recruiting, and management positions. In 2012, construction of a new, permanent facility on the College Park campus was completed, and service was expanded to the University of Maryland, Baltimore under the name UM Shuttle.
This collection is organized as eight series:
The Shuttle-UM records were transferred to the University of Maryland Libraries in July 1994 by former shuttle employee Heather Venters. Additional records were transferred to the University of Maryland Libraries in August 2012 by Shuttle-UM Assistant General Manager Armand Scala.
A preliminary box inventory of the Shuttle-UM records was prepared in 1994. All materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes, staples and paper clips were removed, and film negatives were transferred to the photograph collection. In addition, a poster was transferred to oversize storage. Processing of the records was completed in March 1998, and a finding aid was created.
Additional records were received and processed in 2012. Although the additional records arrived primarily in files by fiscal year, with little additional interior organization, the records were split apart and arranged in accordance with the schema established at the time of the initial accession. In some cases (most notably correspondence and bus schedules), the original materials were reorganized and combined with the newer materials. All materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes, and paper clips and rusted staples were removed. Photographic materials were placed in archival sleeves and transferred to the photograph collection, and a map was transferred to oversize storage. Processing of the addition was completed in November 2012, and the finding aid created in 1998 was revised.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives