Students, faculty and staff on the Creighton University campus in Omaha, Nebraska, will have access to a new sustainable, affordable and convenient transportation option beginning with the 2024-2025 academic school year through a free bus ride program from Omaha Metro Transit.
With the so-called JayPass, students, faculty and staff can use their Creighton ID card to ride all Omaha Metro or ORBT buses on all routes for free.
Creighton University notes that the program is now open to validate the technology. Commuter students, as well as faculty and staff, can take the bus to and from campus. There are several convenient bus stops that intersect or are within a few blocks of Creighton’s Omaha campus, including routes 4, 13, 18, 24 and 30.
“We are excited to offer this transportation option to our Creighton community,” said Creighton President Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ. “It reflects our ongoing commitment to sustainability and provides our students with more options to commute to campus and explore what the city of Omaha has to offer without the need for a car.”
The Creighton Department of Public Safety’s Parking and Ticket Services team worked with Omaha Metro to establish the program, which is also designed to help reduce parking needs on the Omaha campus. It is one of several parking and transportation options offered by Creighton University, including Bluejay Shuttle services that connect key academic, residential and recreational areas.
The bus program fits into several areas of Creighton University’s sustainability efforts, as outlined in the Sustainable Creighton Initiative 2022 report.
In November, the university received a silver STARS rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Through thoughtful campus planning, building efficiency improvements and the re-commissioning of building management software and operations, it has increased sustainability focus and programming and reduced its greenhouse gas emissions at the Omaha campus by 38 percent since 2010.
“The Metrobus program is a tool Creighton is using to shift more commuter and local transit to public transit while promoting greater mobility and equity of access,” said Dr. Andrew Baruth, director of Creighton University’s Office of Sustainability. “Reducing the number of single-occupancy vehicles traveling to and from campus helps reduce Creighton’s greenhouse gas emissions related to commuting and helps us implement our Sustainable Creighton initiative.”
Caden Collins, a junior environmental science and economics major from Waunakee, Wisconsin, said the JayPass program is a welcome addition.
“I love JayPass because I can get to multiple places in the same amount of time without any cost or worry,” Collins said. “It’s one line to Target at 72nd and Dodge Street and I don’t have to fight through traffic.”
Meaghan Hill, a senior studying sociology and law and humanities from Hudson, Ohio, is equally excited about the new JayPass.
“It’s a great way to open up the Omaha community to students who come to Creighton from all over the country and the world,” Hill said. “Accessibility through Omaha’s bus routes is a great way to connect Creighton to the rest of Omaha.”
