Shuttle offers convenience and classic country

Elvis has left the building.

However, he has been seen on a bus for close to seven years now, taking students where they need to go on this lovely Orem campus.

Say “hello” while getting on the complimentary campus shuttle bus to driver, Jack Weyland, wearing his signature “Elvis glasses” with dark lenses and shiny, gold frames.

Weyland loves being at work each day, filling his bus with the music of Johnny Cash and other toe-tapping tunes playing on 99.1 Classic Country music, as well as the students he loves to associate with each day.

“Most of them are really courteous,” he said.  “I enjoy driving.”

Weyland worked for the railroad most of his adult life.  For 35 years, he operated a section car for the Denver and Rio Grande and Union Pacific Railroad companies. After retirement, he wanted a part-time job to keep himself busy. So in October of 2003, Weyland began driving again, this time on the road and not the rails.

Weyland has had some interesting experiences while driving his campus shuttle bus. Weyland said that one day in 2008, a woman boarded the shuttle with her service dog. The dog proceeded to plop itself down on the floor, right next to Weyland as he drove.

Soon thereafter at another shuttle stop, a student boarded questioning the woman that had the dog, which was sitting on the floorboard next to Weyland. “Is the driver blind?” she asked the woman.

“That was a good one,” Weyland said.

Weyland arrives each day at Parking Services around 6 a.m. to start his shift and warm up the shuttle bus engine. Arriving at the testing center stop by 6:30 a.m. is important to Weyland so he can get students to their 7 a.m. classes on time.

There are a total of six shuttle stops for students to board around campus.  Weyland says that his favorite stop is the Library, where lots of students embark and disembark each morning.

Alyssa Claunch, a freshman, was a first-time shuttle rider from the Library to Gunther-Trades building last week.

“I didn’t have to walk to class,” she said. “It was easy.”

Allowing yourself about one-half hour to get from the testing center shuttle stop to class on time is recommended, according to Kendall Ehat, a senior in his final semester that has rode the shuttle numerous times.

Two shuttle buses run continuously, making stops every 15-20 minutes, Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with one shuttle continuing service until 10 p.m.  On Friday, two shuttles run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There is no shuttle service on Saturdays, school breaks and holidays, or during the summer semester.

Summers are a bit lonely with no shuttle and no students for Weyland. He keeps busy driving though, being assigned to a street sweeper and keeping campus sparkling.

Riding the shuttle is a convenient way to get to class if walking is your only other option. All shuttles are also equipped with handicap access doors.

And if students are afraid that it’s Stevie Wonder is driving them to classes, don’t be.  Weyland wears dark shades, but he can see just fine.