On Aug. 4, SamTrans established a new bus route, known as Route CSM. It is a new limited-stop route between the San Mateo Caltrain Station and the College of San Mateo. Route CSM runs every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on weekends. The service usually starts at the Caltrain Station on Transit Center Way.
Students have found it to be convenient transportation between Aragon to the College of San Mateo, or even from their homes to school.
“You get a bus card, so we get to go for free, and it’s just easier to get to our house,” said junior and Middle College student Maria Medina Dussan. “It’s always on time, there’s a set schedule that doesn’t change.”
The new route seems to have a positive academic influence on some Aragon-CSM students as well.
“It’s very helpful because many people don’t take college classes because … there’s multiple ways you can get lost, so it’s very helpful to many students,” Medina Dussan said.
However, students reported that the buses were overly crowded as there was always a large swarm of students with a limited amount of bus space.
“There’s a single bus and it’s one of two carts,” said junior Becky Liang. “It’s always super crowded. [It] is so hot in there. There [is] air conditioning but it’s just so many people together.”
Additionally, a recent strike arose in the staff team due to the transit agency’s latest pay increase offer. From Thursday, Sept. 5 to Friday, Sept. 6, around 70 operators called in sick, forcing the agency to adjust the schedules, as well as contacting riders via email and on X to seek alternative transportation.
“On Thursday, I had to pay a $27 override, [which] was pretty expensive,” Medina Dussan said. “The good thing was … it only lasted for two days, and they did give us a warning … They sent us an email the same day it happened.”
Along with the updates on the strike that SamTrans delivered to the riders, it still prioritized student transportation.
“We got an email that the bus might not be coming, but it still came,” Liang said. “I’m really happy that they really cared about the students and actually, [went to] our stop and [took] us home.”
As some students had noticed, the strike was not only a way of the drivers fighting for better pay, but also their protest for mistreatment.
“I think it’s good that they’re fighting for fair pay,” Liang said. “There’s [people] out there that probably bully the bus drivers, and I think they should be paid for what they take from all the abuse.”
SamTrans service operations will continue, but as negotiations go on, the possibility of a future strike remains.
