Staff and students at the University of Arkansas Uptown Campus are thankful this season for an experimental Red Express Route aimed at reducing travel time between campuses.

Razorback Transit has been running a new Red Express bus route this month. The route from main campus to Uptown Campus remains about the same, but the new route makes it faster to get back to the main campus from the north side of Fayetteville and the Uptown Campus. This new route cuts the previous trip time to the main campus nearly in half to 18-24 minutes.

The experimental route has scheduled departures from Union Station at 11:20 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. Monday through Friday. After departing Uptown Campus, the new route has designated stops at the Northwest Arkansas Mall, Holly Street, Garland Avenue, Garland Center and Union Station.

Though the route has only been in action for a few weeks, the students and staff at the Uptown Campus are already seeing the positive impact of the route.

Marcelo Landivar Argandona, a student studying at the Spring International Language Center, said the new express bus has made things much more convenient.

"It gives me more time to get to places like the bank before they close,"Argandona said.

Daniela De Gracia, also a student studying at the Spring International Language Center, agreed the express bus gives her more time in the afternoon.

"The Red Express is very good because we can get to campus in less than 30 minutes," she said. "When I take the regular Red Bus it takes 50 minutes."

Leyah Bergman-Lanier, director of Spring International Language Center, is grateful for the transit department's effort to ease access to Uptown Campus. 

"For students enrolled at both the Uptown Campus and the main campus the change is critical, and for those students and community members who travel north and south to and from the main campus, the express bus is a welcome addition," she said.   

The Red Express route is currently just experimental. Razorback Transit will evaluate the daily route through the end of the fall semester and decide during the winter break whether to continue it.