By Brandon Bocanegra, December 9, 2025
The counterclockwise route of the Bronco Express Shuttle will end Jan.1, 2026, according to a Dec. 1 announcement on Cal Poly Pomona’s Parking and Transportation’s official Instagram account.
The decision stems from two factors, according to Executive Director of Parking and Transportation Services Mike Yu, including a decline in shuttle riders now using electric scooters and bikes to get around campus and an increase in operating costs of the Bronco Express for fuel, repairs, maintenance and staffing from a third-party service.
“It is something that we’re considering,” Yu said. “We’re looking at all the data to make sure that it’s the right decision to make for Cal Poly.”
The Bronco Express costs approximately $800,000 to run annually, Yu said. In contrast, the free Foothill Transit Class Pass costs approximately $200,000 per year and provides 29,000 rides per month.
The shuttle initially gave students the option to navigate around campus without needing to walk far but has evolved into transporting students on and off campus. The shuttle transports students to and from the University Village Apartments, the Current Apartments and the Metrolink Pomona-North station.
Currently, six shuttles are operated per day with two clockwise routes, two counterclockwise routes, one Current route and one Metrolink route. After the counterclockwise route discontinues, the remaining shuttles will still operate with two clockwise shuttles running, according to Yu.
Mechanical engineering student Punarvasu Sangam frequently rode the shuttle at the beginning of the semester before utilizing an electric bike to travel around campus. Sangam favored the counterclockwise route from the Village because the first stop puts riders in front of the Student Services building close to the library and Bronco Student Center.
“Villagers that want to use the shuttle in the future would have to wait five or six stops to get to campus versus just one stop,” Sangam said. “I would advise people who are not majoring in the Environmental College to get their own transportation.”
The shuttle is a “seasonal service” that sees high traffic in the beginning of the fall semester, which begins to drop off near the end of October into the holiday season, according to Yu. It sees about 50% of its numbers in the spring compared to the fall but still averages approximately 9,500 rides per month.
“We spoke to a group of students that ride the Bronco Express regularly, and the overwhelming feedback was that the clockwise route was the most used,” Yu said. “The feedback that we got was that on counterclockwise, often students are stuck on the shuttle in traffic, and that’s less of an issue on the clockwise route because of the dedicated bus lane on University Drive.”
Computer engineering student Ben Robles takes the shuttle to his classes every day as opposed to walking a mile and a half from the village. Robles noted the counterclockwise shuttle tends to arrive at the Village faster than the clockwise shuttle.
“Having more options is better for everyone,” Robles said. “The difference between an architect major going to the studio on CCW(counterclockwise) or main campus is 10 to 15 minutes. The same can be said for the students of the Collins College.”
Robles added the shuttle tracker should be made a priority regardless of route changes.
“If they get rid of CCW and still don’t get the tracker working, I’ll probably stop taking the shuttle entirely,” Robles said.
The shuttle tracker was disabled earlier in the fall semester but went back online around the beginning of Nov. after ASI leadership asked for it to be turned back on, according to Yu. The trackers’ current third-party contract is set to expire in June 2026, and a new system is to be set in place in July for the fall 2026 semester.
Feature image courtesy of Matthew Becerra
