One of the biggest obstacles Rio Grande Valley college students face when they try to continue their education is transportation. In response to the community’s need, South Texas College and Valley Metro have partnered to provide free transportation between all five of STC’s campuses with the expansion of the Jag Express Intercampus bus service beginning on Aug. 18.
“Students will be able to utilize the transportation that’s being made available to them through the Jag Express Intercampus bus service for free and it’s also a means for them to save on their finances,” said STC Associate Dean of Student Financial Services & Veteran Affairs Mike Carranza. “Now that we’re doing this, all five campuses will be connected. This is just a starting point for something bigger and for future expansion.”
“This is a great service that STC is providing that will allow students to taking advantage of their education and the services that are available to them,” added Carranza. “One of the biggest things that we’ve heard from students is transportation problems. Now with the Jag Express Intercampus bus service here, it’ll make it easier for them not only to navigate to the different campuses, but help them financially by saving on transportation.”
The Jag Express will have three bus lines and cover five routes from STC’s Mid-Valley Campus in Weslaco to the Starr County Campus in Rio Grande City. The bus service will run from Monday to Friday and is open to the public. Students with a valid STC ID card will be allowed to use the service for free and transfer to other Valley Metro systems.
“It all started last year with the Mid-Valley route 35 Purple Line connecting the Mid-Valley to the Nursing and Allied Health and Technology Campuses,” said Valley Metro Director Tom Logan. “From there we developed a vision of connecting all of STC’s campuses through the intercampus route system.”
Students traveling aboard the Jag Express will also have free access to Wi-Fi during their trip to and from school, or between campuses. Jag Express service will run every half an hour from early morning to late night.
“Bigger cities have similar services and university’s like the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Tech have something similar to what we have here,” said Logan. “However, those services are just on their campuses and not like the region-wide approach that’s being taken between STC and Valley Metro.”
The Green Line will connect the Starr County Campus with the La Joya Teaching Center, Mission’s La Placita Teaching Center, Pecan and Technology Campuses.
The Yellow Line, the smallest of the three, will connect the three McAllen-based campuses of Pecan, Technology and Nursing and Allied Health.
Finally, the Purple Line will connect the Mid-Valley Campus to the Pharr Teaching Center, NAH and Technology Campuses.
For more information about the STC Jag Express Intercampus bus service, call (956) 361-3921 or visit http://www.southtexascollege.edu/jagexpress.