As its name suggests, the facilities and transportation committee deals with all issues and complaints regarding facilities and transportation on campus.

Things that fall into our purview on the facilities side are all buildings with the exception of:

• Residence halls
• Dining halls
• The wellness center
• Campus safety offices/structures

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do the Cudahy Library doors remain closed?”

According to the Associate Dean of the Library, Fred Barnhart, they evaluated the benefits and drawbacks of a single entrance and came to the conclusion that it is more secure to maintain a single entrance, but also provides opportunities for service efficiency, along with a more aesthetically pleasing main entrance to the University Libraries at the Lake Shore Campus. The single entrance also minimizes the impact of foot traffic on the Cudahy Library and providing a better research and study environment in the Cudahy Library. Since the IC entrance is also in a more central location, access is improved from other buildings on campus, to the El station, and to the north side of campus.

Why can’t the shuttles leave the Lakeshore Campus when they are full?

Because the shuttles are not allowed to wait at the Water Tower Campus downtown (per Chicago law), the shuttles always arrive at the Water Tower Campus, unload, load, and leave right away. If the shuttles were to stand at the Water Tower Campus for any more than a few minutes, they would be told to move by the police or Loyola could possibly be ticketed. As a result of this, shuttles need to run on a schedule so that only one shuttle arrives at the downtown campus at a time and can leave with a full load of passengers quickly. We know that it can be frustrating to see a full shuttle sitting for ten minutes waiting to leave, but this is the only way that Loyola can avoid possibly stiff fines and keep a regular schedule departing from the Water Tower Campus.  We however are working with Transportation to determine if there is a more effective way to make the schedule more efficient.

Why are the posted times for shuttle arrivals/departures sometimes off? Can you do anything about it?

The posted shuttle times are not based on any real-time information about the shuttles’ progress, so the times are an estimate of when the shuttle will arrive based on the estimated amount of time it takes to get from one campus to the other.  Most of the discrepancies that students have noticed are due to nothing more than the unavoidable uncertainty of urban traffic. However, we are continuing to investigate possible GPS alternatives (like CTA’s bus tracker) so that arrival times can be as accurate as possible.

I never use my U-Pass but I still pay for it, is there some way to opt-out?

We have looked extensively into whether or not it is possible to allow students to opt-out of the U-pass and unfortunately it is not. The U-Pass is an arrangement between the CTA and the colleges and universities in Chicago. The students who use the U-pass heavily are getting a tremendously good deal compared to paying the standard CTA fare, and the CTA has told us that the only reason they can give such a good deal is because it is guaranteed by the university that all students will buy the U-pass. So the reason that students cannot opt-out of the U-pass is because that would violate the agreement that Loyola has with the CTA.