WE’VE come a long way from having to catch a bus to get to Utopia in Calcot.
Students at the University of Reading can now use a special free bus service to get them to the club on time. But this isn’t a trek to the other side of the borough, it’s to the nightclub at the heart of the Whiteknights campus.
The new 360 service from Reading Buses will run from the off-campus student areas such as Wokingham Road and Erleigh Road to get students to and from the 2,500 capacity 3Sixty venue in the students’ union.
It will run every 15 minutes from 10pm until 2.30am on Wednesdays and Saturdays during term-time.
The aim is to improve access for students with mobility issues as well as supporting vulnerable students by offering a safe way back home and helping to reduce noise in the local community.
RUSU president, Ben Knowles, came up with the idea and said he wanted to do something to improve access to the venue that so many students enjoy, missed or had not been able to experience for some 18 months.
He said: “I am impressed with the speed that both the University and Reading Buses have worked with myself to get this initiative off the ground for the beginning of term.”
And the project has been welcomed by Reading Buses.
The company says bus travel is a sustainable mode of transport that will help the students reduce their carbon impact.
“We are thrilled to get this service going with RUSU and the University,” said Reading Buses marketing and communications manager Jake Osman.
“Providing safe travel for students enjoying their social times is extremely important and hopefully will also translate into more students using the core services too.
“This new bus route will supplement the claret 21 which runs 24/7 through the University and will hopefully help the local community in noise reduction as it removes the need for students to walk home to properties along the Wokingham Road.”
And he said that since students have returned the number of passengers has been increasing.
“The numbers are climbing, but we do encourage more students to use the service to ensure that the bus will continue to be funded over the coming months and, hopefully, years,” he said.
