Logistics for the 2014 BISD Graduate Attending the University of the Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg & Brownsville Campuses, Using Public Transportation

Brownsville Campus

Twin campuses are not the norm for universities.  Potomac State College of Keyser, WV links with West Virginia University, 87 miles away in Morgantown, but it is more of an underling than an equal with PSC students eventually transferring to WVU.  The prestigious Florida International University with over 50,000 students features main campuses at Modesto A. Maidique in Miami and Biscayne Bay in North Miami with a $2.50 shuttle bus running the 24 miles between them.

Students from Brownsville, enrolling in the URGV in the fall, without personal transportation, will be relying on Brownsville Metro to get them to the Multi-Modal terminal, then use Metro Connect when they need to get to the Edinburg campus.  Metro Connect's red line runs from Brownsville to McAllen with stops at VTC in Harlingen and the Outlet Malls in Mercedes.  That trip takes about 90 minutes, then there is an 11 mile, 20 minute shuttle to the Edinburg campus.

Brownsville's Multi-Modal Bus Terminal

Let's run through the logistics for a student living East of Brownsville near the airport with a 10:00 AM class in Edinburg and a 3:00 PM class back in Brownsville.  Aiming for an 8:00 departure, the student will need to be at a Brownsville Metro bus stop by 7:00 AM, expecting a half hour interval between buses.  Either the Austin Road or Billy Mitchell bus will take the student from near his home to downtown.(Student fares are .75 per trip, $9.00 for 20 rides or unlimited rides for $25.00 per month.)  Those rates will cover getting the student to and from the Multi-Modal.

Metro Connect buses, which link Brownsville, Harlingen, South Padre Island, McAllen and Edinburg, start their runs at the Brownsville Multi-Modal.  With a morning class at the Edinburg campus, the student will need to catch the 8:00 AM run.(The round trip fare to McAllen is $5.00, with a 30 day unlimited pass for the red line costing $90.00.)  Since the Metro Connect buses are equipped with wi-fi, the student can connect to the internet, facilitating study during the 90 minute ride to McAllen and 20 minute ride to Edinburg.  In this scenario, the East of Brownsville student arrives at the Edinburg campus at 9:50, 10 minutes before his first class.

Edinburg Campus

With the morning class ending at 11:00 AM, the student may decide to get lunch, then start his return trip at 12:00 PM. With 20 minutes needed to get back to McAllen, the the 90 minute trip to the terminal in Brownsville, the student is back downtown by around 2:00 PM. Since his next class is at 3:00 PM, it doesn't make sense to go home, but perhaps to study a bit before class.

At 4:00 PM, after class, it's back to the terminal to wait for a Brownsville Metro bus back home. Assuming a half hour wait time for the next bus, the student may find himself en route by 4:30 and home by 5:00 PM. A 10 hour day, 6 buses, 2 classes. Such is life attending a dual campus university.