Come and Get Your Free (Ride to) Lunch

UC Davis-Downtown Lunch Shuttle now free and serves West Campus.

Responding to the feedback of current riders and prospective users, U-DASH Lunch Shuttle organizers have announced two major revisions to the three-month old service, in order to better serve UC Davis staff, faculty and students traveling to Downtown Davis for lunch and shopping.

According to Geoff Straw, Unitrans General Manager, riders may now board U-DASH at no charge; previously, the round-trip fare was $1.  In addition, on Monday, December 14, two shuttle stops will be added on the West side of campus, one at the Silo and the other at Health Sciences between Lot 56 and the Genome Building.

“Together with the Davis Downtown Business Association (DDBA), we have spent time informally surveying riders and potential riders to better understand why they are or are not currently using U-DASH, “ Straw explained.  “We heard from many campus staff members who said that their offices are just too far from the shuttle stops near the Quad.  Ironically, due to their more remote location, these are the people least likely to come Downtown at lunchtime, and are those most likely to benefit from expanded U-DASH service.”

Straw added that students indicated that the $1 fare was a problem – - not that it was too expensive, but rather that it was inconvenient, since so many students rely upon electronic forms of payment and do not carry cash.

Unitrans has identified efficiencies in the U-DASH system that will allow the shuttles to continue to operate on a very frequent basis, despite the additional shuttle stops.  Originally scheduled to run every 10 minutes, shuttles now will serve shuttle stops every 10-12 minutes during regular hours of operation.  U-DASH travels weekdays 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

“We continue to believe in U-DASH as green way for UC Davis staff and students to access Downtown Davis, a green destination,” Straw said.  “We are looking forward to increased U-DASH ridership.”

U-DASH debuted in late August to provide convenient alternative lunchtime transportation between Downtown Davis and the UC Davis campus.  An updated route map is available at www.davisdowntown.com/news/udash-shuttle.

Unitrans and the DDBA are partners with the City of Davis and the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District in the U-DASH Lunch Shuttle project.  For more information about U-DASH service, contact Joy Cohan, DDBA director, at 756-8763 or joy@davisdowntown.com.