UI To Move CAMBUS Service Online for Remainder of Semester

To encourage social distancing and prevent possible spread of the COVID-19 virus, UI administrators announced that CAMBUS will be moving online starting March 30. Immediately following spring break, all university buses will cease their current routes and shift to online platforms.

“We are sad to announce that we will be removing the CAMBUS system from the physical plane,” wrote UI Director of Transportation Rosalind Murrow. “Hopefully the new online public transit system can bring a bit of familiarity during this time of large-scale changes to our society, and make it easier for students to find their way to their online classes. The virtual experience will include the same jostling bus rides and the awkward avoidance of eye contact with other passengers, all without the hassle of leaving home. To add familiarity, we’ve programmed the person sitting next to each passenger to fully extend their legs and take up way more space than necessary.”

Murrow noted that the process of moving the CAMBUS system online “could take longer than expected,” and that “spring break may need to be extended for another week.”

“We ask that students be patient with us through this highly complex endeavor. Every University of Iowa department from advising to counseling are dealing with these new obstacles as they come, and CAMBUS is particularly challenging, because moving a dozen 15-ton passenger buses onto the world wide web requires a lot of out-of-the-box thinking. Currently, we are stuck on the wheels, we can’t figure out how to make them turn. However, we expect to have the CAMBUS fully uploaded by April 10. Students can track the progress of this project on the BONGO app, but the information may be inaccurate.”

The email also thanked students for their patience and thanked CAMBUS drivers for “relinquishing their physical forms” in order to assure a smooth transition.