The Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) bus will reinstate its weekend service for the remainder of the Spring 2023 semester, according to an announcement by the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA), the Georgetown University Graduate Student Government and Georgetown University.

Under the new schedule, buses from the main campus to Rosslyn and Dupont Circle will run between noon and midnight on Saturdays and Sundays — a change from the current schedule, which offers no weekend service on these routes. Bus service to the downtown campus at 55 H St. NW will run on Sundays, in addition to existing Saturday service.

GUSA and GradGov, the student governments representing undergraduate and graduate student bodies, respectively, worked with the university’s Division of Student Affairs and Office of Transportation Management (OTM) to establish the pilot program.

“The university, GUSA and GradGov have been working together this academic year to collect information and feedback on students’ transportation needs and preferences and to explore various options for improving transit accessibility,” the Feb. 23 statement read. “The weekend GUTS service pilot will provide another helpful opportunity for assessment and feedback.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, GUTS buses went to Dupont Circle on a limited six-hour schedule on Saturday afternoons, and never ran on Sundays. 

GUSA President Camber Vincent (SFS ’24) said weekend service for the route stopped altogether following post-pandemic funding cuts.

He said GUTS weekend service will allow undergraduate students to more easily explore Washington, D.C.’s museums, monuments and nightlife.

“Especially given college students’ schedules, the weekends are arguably the best time to go explore DC as a city and engage with all of its offerings,” Vincent wrote to The Hoya. “GUTS service on the weekend will hopefully allow students to take full advantage of all of the educational, experiential, and professional opportunities that DC has to offer.”

GradGov President Nadia Sarfraz (GRD ’23) said it took time for the organization to effectively advocate weekend service with the university administration. GradGov’s transportation and housing committee and executive board worked jointly to push for expanded service, culminating in a meeting with Vice President of Student Affairs Eleanor Daugherty. 

“It took a lot of back-and-forth communication with higher admin to get them to listen to student voices,” Sarfraz wrote to The Hoya. “The delays in getting this done mostly came from the need for GradGov and GUSA leadership to actually identify where these decisions about GUTS were made.”

On the GUSA side, Vincent said he worked with university officials, including Daugherty, GUTS managers, Vice President of Planning, Facilities Management and Corporate Partnerships Lori Baldwin, Provost Robert Groves, OTM staff and the university’s board of directors to push for weekend GUTS service.

“The main challenge was just coordinating all necessary components of staffing, funding, planning, and communication,” Vincent wrote. “Ultimately we got back the route as funding became available from the Student Affairs office to pay for the route.”

Graduate students will particularly benefit from an easier weekend journey to campus, Sarfraz said.

“A huge win for all of us,” Sarfraz wrote to The Hoya. “Especially for graduate students, who often have to commute to campus on weekends for work, studies, and activities.”

The pilot complements the “Hoya Transit Pilot” program that launched in the Fall 2022 semester, which offers students a $100 semesterly credit to their Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority SmarTrip accounts.

“GUTS on the weekend significantly strengthens our Hoya Transit program for our undergrads, as the combined GUTS to a metro stop then use of the metro light rail is a fast and efficient method to get around the city—free of charge!” Vincent wrote.

In November’s GUSA Senate elections, several candidates made expanded GUTS service a key part of their campaign platforms.

Multiple first-year senators who ran on a platform advocating for weekend GUTS service said that it is critical for making the District more accessible for all students.

“Most students want to get off campus on the weekends but were previously restricted because of the lack of transportation options,” Senator Rhea Iyer (CAS ’26) wrote to The Hoya. “Now, students are able to travel off campus easily and for free. This is extremely important in expanding the ability for Georgetown to explore DC and gain opportunities off campus.” 

“One of the things we hear about frequently is the so-called ‘Georgetown Bubble’ that keeps students secluded from the rest of DC,” Seth Edwards (CAS ’26), another senator who made weekend GUTS service a pillar of his platform, wrote to The Hoya. “Expanding GUTS buses to the weekends means that the bubble will shrink, especially on days when students have the most free time from class.”

Sarfraz said the partnership between GradGov and GUSA strengthened their shared movement and made their advocacy for weekend GUTS service much easier.

“With the persistence of many students and student leaders, we finally had a breakthrough,” Sarfraz wrote. “Uniting grad and undergrad voices have power on this campus.”