Beginning a new chapter of education comes with several challenges, from picking classes to navigating an unfamiliar campus. But one of the most daunting questions for incoming students has little to do with education: How can they get around town without a car?
Whether it’s using public transportation, walking or nabbing a two-wheeled vehicle, Gainesville has options.
Electric scooters
One option is a fixture that can be found lying around UF.
If you’ve been around campus, you’ve likely seen students driving across University Avenue on their mopeds or riding their electric scooters down campus sidewalks.
David Haslam owns Campus Scooters, a shop on Southwest 40th Boulevard that sells both kinds of scooters. The store offers a cost-effective, efficient alternative for students looking to transport themselves across campus, he said.
Parking is much more convenient for mopeds than cars, he added.
“There’s no pretending like parking is not a problem in Gainesville,” Haslam said. “The other thing is this one-way-street-only stuff is much easier to navigate on a scooter.”
In January, Gainesville converted two streets near UF’s main campus to one-way streets with added bike lanes.
Students who use electric scooters will have to purchase permits to park their vehicles on campus. Permits cost $170 per semester.
Haslam’s store typically sees a large uptick in sales at the beginning of each semester, he said, and Fall typically brings a 70% increase in store volume. The store is shifting focus to presales to account for the demand and ordering vehicles ahead of time for students and inquiring riders, he added.
The store offers mopeds ranging from $1,300 to $2,200 and electric scooters from $300 to $1,500.
The city of Gainesville also offers scooters for short-term rental through its micromobility programs. Hundreds of electric scooters are set up at prominent locations in and around campus, using apps like SPIN, Bird and VEO for payment transactions.
Biking
Navigating by bicycle is another option for incoming students.
Stephen Bushoven, a 39-year-old Gainesville resident who works at Bikes & More on Northwest Sixth Street, said biking is one of the most efficient means of transportation in Gainesville.
Bushoven has worked at the store for over a decade and has biked around the city for even longer.
“I’d say it’s pretty accessible,” Bushoven said. “You can pretty much get anywhere on a bicycle.”
In 2022, the Gainesville City Commission approved roadway design changes to add bike lanes to all new city streets.
Used bikes at Bikes & More range from $200 to $600, while new bikes can cost anywhere between $500 and $2,000.
Students can also rent bikes through UF’s Gator Gears program. Gator Gears offers annual and semester-long bicycle rentals to students. The custom-made rentals cost $75 for one semester, $115 for two and $150 for the full academic year.
UF Transportation and Parking Service, which manages transportation permits, offers covered bicycle parking in Garage 14 for $40 annually.
Hundreds of bicycle racks are located across campus and next to most UF buildings.
Bushoven said he encourages students to bike and recommends they purchase bikes equipped with locks and lights for security and visibility.
Gainesville bus system
Since 1998, Gainesville and UF have had an agreement offering unlimited bus ridership to students, faculty and staff. Students can receive fare-free Regional Transit System access with a valid GatorOne ID.
The service operates Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
On Saturdays, RTS routes are in service from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Sundays, they run 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Students can find bus routes through apps like the city’s GNV RideRTS app, which tracks vehicle arrival time and offers a live map, and the student-created NaviGator app, which provides tracking, route planning and arrival notifications.
Riley Johnson, a 21-year-old UF data science senior, used the bus service throughout the Summer, and he said he’s been pleased with the results.
“It felt perfect. I felt safe, and it was clean,” Johnson said. “Overall, it’s pretty easy to navigate.”
He wished the buses had a higher frequency and RTS had more funding, he said. Missing his first bus would leave him vulnerable to missing class entirely, he added, though he still enjoys using the service.
Last year, UF cut nearly $3 million of its funding toward Gainesville’s RTS. It redirected funds to another student bus resource: Campus Connector, the university’s private shuttle service.
The service offers three routes: east-west, north-south and a central route. All three run from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding UF holidays.
East-west buses travel among areas like Southwest Recreation Center, the Hub and Fraternity and Sorority rows. According to TAPS, the shuttles arrive every 10 to 20 minutes at given locations depending on the time.
The north-south route travels among the College of Veterinary Medicine, UF Health Shands, Parking Garage 14 on Gale Lemerand Drive and the Hub.
Campus Connector’s central route can take students from the center of campus to Southwest Rec, Reitz Union and Shands.
Those looking to find their way home at night can rest assured that rides are available through UF’s Student Nightlife Auxiliary Patrol.
From 8:30 p.m. to 3 a.m., students can request rides at 85 designated pickup and drop-off locations on campus and several UF-owned locations in downtown and Midtown.
Students can use SNAP through the Spare app with their Gatorlink login. From there, they can enter an address and the size of their group, and the app will provide the closest SNAP pickup location.
There are typically four to seven vans in circulation, many of which are driven by fellow UF students.
From buses and shuttles to bicycles and scooters, students without a four-wheeled vehicle can find methods of transportation that fit their budget, schedule and needs.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @logandmcbride.
Logan McBride is a fourth-year journalism student and this summer's general assignment reporter. He previously served as a reporter for the city/county commission, K-12 education and track & field. Logan enjoys watching sports, going to the movies and playing basketball. When he's not working, you can find him on adventures with his friends, cuddling with his cat Max, or with his girlfriend.
