FLIGHT, Temple’s nighttime fixed-route shuttle service, has changed the routes of all three of its shuttle loops to increase access to Charles Library.
The program operates three loops every day from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. to target the entirety of the Temple University Police patrol zone. In the newest updates of its map, the program has directed all loops to go through 13th Street before turning onto Diamond Street.
The decision came after receiving feedback from students as well as reviewing ridership reports from drivers.
“[The FLIGHT team] did ride studies, we track passengers and where they get off and on,” said Mark Gottlieb, associate director of operations and logistics. “The Charles Library is the largest trip originator and trip destination in the whole system.”
Aside from a new stop, the biggest changes have been applied to the North loop, which covers the off-campus housing section of the patrol zone. The farthest point of the loop is the stop on the corner of 18th and Diamond Streets.
Instead of crossing at Cecil and Broad Streets, North loop buses will now take a detour into 13th Street and down to Diamond Street before turning into Broad Street. This change allows the loop to pass Charles Library before continuing onto its regular spots.
The change was not broadly announced by the Department of Public Safety or campus operations. Students were informed during a Temple Transportation Fair on Sept. 6. A new copy of the shuttle map was uploaded onto the university website during the summer.
Students who need to get to the Cecil B. Moore block of the North loop are now redirected to the South loop. Some students weren’t aware of the change until they attempted to take a ride and were told the loop has changed.
“I got on the North loop and I asked ‘Hey can I get off at this street?’ and they said ‘Oh we don’t go down that way,’” said Thalia Lash, a junior media studies and production major. “That’s why I made the switch to the South loop because it goes a bit further south and does cover that area but it’s different from the North. I think it was a problem that I wasn’t told that unless I really looked at the map since it directly affects me. Now it’s even harder for me to get home.”
The goal of the program is to prevent students from walking alone at night. The Department of Public Safety provides information about FLIGHT on printed cards to Temple students on move-in day and digital slides are shown in the Howard Gittis Student Center and other Temple buildings.
“Our business here is to encourage as many students to ride the service as possible,” Gottlieb said. “It’s put there by the university. The university is concerned about the safety of students, particularly in the after hours. That is the reason for this service.”
Students are able to operate the FLIGHT program through TransLoc, a third-party app that allows users to track transportation in real time. The program ridership is continuously tracked by campus operations for quality performance.
During the 2023-24 academic year, a total of 33,271 passengers took FLIGHT, a 14.85% increase from the previous year. By tracking the stops with the most traffic, the university is able to adjust FLIGHT and the TransLoc app as needed.
Representatives from Temple Student Government have previously stated that improving the FLIGHT program is one of their main initiatives for the year. Their priorities include easier utilization and increased awareness of the existence of the program.
“We believe the FLIGHT is a great resource and want to make sure we are uplifting it and helping make it more accessible for those who want to utilize it,” said Kiyah Hamilton, TSG vice president.
Under the campus operations page, the FLIGHT program offers multiple different resources to speak directly to a person or send any questions or concerns directly to Gottlieb. The shuttle system has seen many improvements during the years. The East loop was added to the system on Jan. 14, 2023, following the program relaunching in Aug. 2022 as a fixed-route system.
But despite notable improvements, some students have concerns on the usability of the app. The app is regularly updated by the university, but some of the symbols can create confusion when needing to locate the FLIGHT vehicle, Lash said.
“When you’re looking to see where the buses are, it’s not easy to tell where and what direction they’re going in,” Lash said. “It’s very confusing. I think sometimes what they do is have an inactive line, like when the drivers are on their breaks, or just not moving at the moment.”
Students who take FLIGHT made similar observations in Aug. 2022 when the university relaunched the program. They spoke about difficulty understanding the wait times and the reliability of the app estimation.
“I’ve also heard from freshmen how it’s hard to get a FLIGHT,” Lash said. “This girl told me she was trying to get on the FLIGHT and they ignored her. That makes me really sad because I use the FLIGHT all the time, and I don’t want someone to feel discouraged from using it.”
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