We’re all tired of hearing about the much-bemoaned institutionalized “bubble” around the Hilltop, and expanding the GUTS bus service offers a clear solution to this problem.

Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle buses are a free and convenient service for students, faculty and staff on a campus that is otherwise lacking in travel accommodations. GUTS bus schedules are designed with commuters in mind, but they should also take into account the social and academic needs of the majority demographic on the Hilltop: undergraduates.

The lack of a Metro stop near campus makes this accommodation not just a luxury but a necessity. Beyond GUTS, the university community’s current access to public transportation is limited to the Circulator, which runs down M Street and Wisconsin Avenue to a small selection of areas throughout the District. The popular G2 bus route was discontinued last spring due to construction on O and P Streets, and its return is delayed because of shift difficulties with bus drivers.

GUTS buses already run to a variety of locations in the city, and weekday service does an adequate job meeting the needs of graduate students, professors and staff who live outside the Georgetown area. However, these buses run only midday Saturday and never on Sundays. Georgetown should begin running weekend GUTS routes to — at a minimum — Dupont Circle and Rossyln.

Even with GUTS, access to public transportation from the Hilltop is limited. There is an effective campus bus service already in place, and it is only fair that it be utilized to its full potential with the needs of all members of the Georgetown community in mind.