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The Peralta Community College District plans to launch a new shuttle bus program this winter to connect its four campuses. Deputy Chancellor and Chief Operating Officer Greg Nelson provided details about the service in an email to The Citizen.
Nelson wrote that the program is scheduled to be soft launched by Dec. 1, with full service beginning at the start of the Spring 2026 semester.
He emphasized that the district is starting small to evaluate student demand since the transportation program was approved by the students last fall.
“Departure times are forthcoming and will be rolled out in advance, hence why we are doing a soft launch toward the end of this semester.” Nelson wrote.
The shuttle bus program will be covered under the same transportation fee as the district’s AC Transit EasyPass program, a one time payment for Peralta students to ride AC Transit buses throughout a semester. Students will be charged $50 per semester and $25 for the summer during the 2025–2026 academic year.
The program fee will increase to $53 per semester during the 2026-2027 academic year.
Unlike EasyPass, which is only available to students enrolled in six or more units, shuttles will be open to all Peralta students regardless of unit load. Riders will be required to show a student ID, though the district is working on a process to identify students by other means.
Shuttles will operate Monday through Friday, with no weekend service for now. Nelson told The Citizen that a weekend service “can be revisited based on demand in the future.”
Routes will connect from Laney College, which will operate as the central hub for the program, to the other three colleges. Nelson wrote that Laney was chosen as the main hub due to its higher enrollment and proximity to the Lake Merritt BART station.
Planned pickup and drop-off locations include the flagpole on Fallon Street at Laney, behind Cougar Village at College of Alameda, and at Merritt College’s AC Transit bus stop. According to Nelson, the location of Berkeley City College’s stop area remains undetermined due to “congestion on Center Street,” though the district is working with Berkeley Public Works to find a solution.
Each shuttle will hold 24-33 passengers, depending on the bus model. Four of the buses will be equipped with ADA lifts and ramps; drivers will be trained to assist students with disabilities.
The district will hire four to six new drivers represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 39, with recruitment already underway. Nelson wrote the program will be overseen by the Department of General Services.
The new shuttle could have been a game-changer for Peralta alumnus Yu Liu, a 2022 transfer student who attended both Laney and CoA. He said he often relied on public transit.
“I always took the bus or an Uber,” Liu said. “A direct route to and from each campus would have saved me a lot of time and money.”