Usually there is a shuttle service for students of Mesa College, from 8 am until approximately 10 pm. Parking has always been a problem no student wants to wake up early and find a parking space.

During the spring 2011 Semester that is just what everyone will have to endure. Walking from a further parking space or parking outside the school would certainly be an alternative, but some may have relied on the shuttle as they may not have a car.

With 24,000 students here at Mesa, there is a good chance that many were disappointed to hear the news. Being more populated than City and Miramar College, Mesa should have something extra. New buildings and photovoltaic (solar-powered) panels are nice, but what about the shuttle?
With so many students at Mesa, one would think that a shuttle service would be beneficial to everyone. Perhaps it could be the one thing that would make someone want to be educated at Mesa instead of Miramar, or Palomar, or Mira Costa College. It could be possible that the school is worried about over-polluting the atmosphere.

Simple solution, hybrid shuttle, or a convoy of those extended golf carts that are commonly used at retirement communities.

With the new solar-powered panels everywhere, one would think that that would be a perfect solution. Of course there could have been some personnel problems, for example, the one shuttle driver there was just quit.

Again, an easy fix, hire a student to ferry his or her peers around campus and to some of the nearby bus stops. Some bright young scholar might see an short term, but if nothing else, it should pay for the tuition and maybe some school books.

Seems to be a fairly easy job, at least one could take solace in the fact that the time of the foot-powered Flintstone’s cars is long gone. The shuttle is obviously more of a convenience than a necessity but a convenience is always nice. Fast food restaurants on every corner, 7-11’s and other gas station convenience stores all over the place, catering to the needs of the just about everyone. Some streets there are Starbucks coffee shops every few blocks.

Unless everyone drives to each of their destinations, some will have to walk. So why walk when everyone could just take a free shuttle? Buses are cheap, walking is free, but shuttles are fun! Just like the Skyline at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. It will either take passengers from point A to point B, which is just fine, or just keep going round and round. Read a book, do some homework and by the time you’re done, “Oh this is my stop, how convenient.” The shuttle could be a new experience for some.

There are some people that have never been in anything other than a car and school bus. Some might like, and to take that joy away from so many people is cruel. It could be the best thing that happened to somebody that day, like the Tea Cup ride at Disneyland. Seemingly small and insignificant in the long-run, but, it’s the small things that make life worth living.

Finding a five-dollar bill in your jeans, eating the glazed buttermilk bar from Peterson’s Donut Corner, or receiving a smile from the girl or guy you may have a crush on. And if all of those things happened at once, on the shuttle ferrying students to and from Mesa, you will remember that shuttle for the rest of your life.