Summary

The Elon University BioBus is a transportation system used primarily by Elon students, faculty and staff for moving within and around the towns of Elon and Burlington. With free service and a readily available schedule, they have been largely successful since their implementation.

 Photo credit: Katie Kowalski     

Details and Information

History

• In January 2007, Elon University began the operation of its biobus. This endeavor was made possible by a $1 million grant, which the US North Carolina State Representative, Howard Coble, helped to secure. 

Fuel

• The fuel is 80% ultra low sulfur diesel and 20% biofuel
• The buses are refueled on campus, at the University's refueling station.

• Pros	Cons
  Free and easy transportation for Elon students, faculty and staff.	High cost of maintenance and original supply.
  Available almost every day (See "Routes" chart below).	Delays in scheduling may affect transporters.
  Scheduled, with tracking available through NextBus initiative.	The timing of the buses are set, often making it hard to reach one's destination even with foresight and planning, simply due to scheduling problems and lack of flexibility.
  No identification required to ride. This includes Phoenix Cards.

   

Routes

Danieley

• This bus runs approximately every 10 minutes
• It goes from the McMichael parking lot through Colonnades and into the Danieley complex before returning
• Useful for Danieley or Qdoba transportation

Outer Loop A&B

• Each line of this bus runs approximately every 20 minutes, meaning every ten minutes one of the lines is starting over
• It goes from the McMichael parking lot through Oak Hill, University Pointe, Phoenix Arms and Park Place before returning
• Useful for Oaks Apartment transportation

University Drive

• This bus runs every 40 minutes
• It goes from Moseley Center to Lowe's Foods, then Alamance Crossing before returning
• Useful for grocery shopping (Target, Lowe's Foods), electronic equipment (Best Buy, Gamestop), food (mexican, chinese, italian, ice cream) and entertainment (Carousel Movie Theater)

West

• This bus runs approximately every 20 minutes
• It goes from Moseley Center to Arts West, Trollinger and West End apartments, before returning
• Useful for transportation to and from various apartment complexes 

Downtown Loop

• This bus runs every hour
• It goes through the city of Burlington before returning
• Useful for volunteering or shopping

Other Information

BioBus Stop Signs

• Each stop throughout the Elon and Burlington areas at which the bus stops is represented through a sign notice
• Each sign contains a NextBus reference number for checking and scheduling 
• Buses only stop at designated stop signs

Bio Bus Stop sign and area. Credit: Kate Whalley

NextBus Service

• The bus schedule is available online, through an application for most smartphones, or through calling 336-261-0252 and inputing the 3-digit code from the respective sign. 
• There are known issues with this service, but for the most part it is efficient

References:

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/bft/sustainability/ci-transport.xhtml

http://org.elon.edu/transit/biobus/index.html