Recently some of the College Shuttle team members got on their bikes and decided to ride from the start of the The Great Allegheny Passage in cumberland to Frostburg which is about 16 miles. The 1% incline seemed so minor and we disregarded it while discussing it with other bikers along the trail. Although for beginners like us it was really hard, the scenery  from Cumberland to Frostburg is amazing.

Once we biked about 10 miles and realized we must bike all the way back we decided providing shuttles to the real bikers along the trail is what we should continue doing, lol.

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) trail is between Cumberland, MD, and Homestead, PA, near Pittsburgh and as most know this summer the trail will be connected all the way to Pittsburgh.

As the biking season beings, we are taking reservations for groups of bikers and hikers that need shuttles to stops along the Gap trail. Here is the link for more information on our The Great Allegheny Passage ad C&O Canal shuttle service http://www.collegeshuttles.com/bike-tours/

We managed to take a few pictures while taking many breaks!

We are going to have a trail run, and make weekly trips for the month of March and depending on our ridership we will continue the service permanently.

Every friday College Shuttles will pick up Hood College students from Whitaker Campus Center and take them to the BWI airport or other convenient locations in the Baltimore and Washington D.C areas. Students and parents can go to our website www.collegeshuttles.com and make a reservation.

Once students are picked up from campus on Fridays they spend the weekend at home then we pick them up on Sunday from the Baltimore and Washington D.C areas and get them back to campus. For holidays such as Spring Break, we pick up when residence halls close and return when they open a week later.

We are looking forward to getting to know the Hood College students and driving them in our cool shuttles!

Let us know what you think, as always we love to see the great ideas students and parents have.

Imagine being able to take care of all your college transportation needs in the beginning of the year or start of each semester just like you would take care of your books. During each semester there are mandatory dates you must leave campus and in addition many students enjoy taking trips home to visit family, friends or go to a doctors appointment. Its important for college bound students to know that transportation to and from campus is available by College Shuttle and students living in Maryland, Washington DC or Virginia can go to a campus of their choice in Maryland or West Virginia.

So how does it work? Well here it is, when a parent or student purchases a package we immediately reserve your seat for the Spring and / or Thanksgiving breaks when students must leave campus. Depending on the package, if you have non holiday weekends included we will give you an option to reserve future dates now or if you are not sure of the dates let us know the week of the trip. All you have to do is call and let us know you have a package and the date you want to go home.  We will take it from there.

Here are our 3 popular packaged deals

Holiday Package

This package is designed for students who will only be visiting home during holiday breaks when residence halls are closed. There are 3 times during the year that residence halls are closed and students must leave campus, the holiday package will guarantee seats for all three. The 3 main holidays are Thanksgiving, Spring Break and Winter Break.

Triple Play

Every semester the Triple play will take care of the 1 major holiday and give you an option to go home any 2 weekends of your choice. The major holidays in the semester which would be either Thanksgiving in the fall semester or Spring break in the spring semester. The other 2 trips included in the package are for any weekend during the semester that a student chooses to visit home.

Grand Slam

So you like to go home quite a bit, you have a job or run a business in your home city like the College Shuttle founder did, well the Grand Slam is for you. The Grand Slam package is one of our bigger packages which includes multiple weekends and is used by students who will visit home more that 5 weekends in a semester.

I am sure we have a package that will meet your needs. College transportation is what we do and the package deal program is a new way for us to make the college experience a little more stress free. Most of our packages were created by students or parents so please send us your ideas because we will listen and make changes.

During Spring 2013 College Shuttle will provide 2 new services during the semester to some campuses

1. Snow tubing trips
Students from Frostburg State University and Potomac state college will be able to catch a shuttle from campus and go to the Wisp resort where they can snow tube with peers for a few hours.
2. A Safe Night out shuttles
This is a way for students to get off campus and enjoy a few hours of fun with out worrying about drinking and driving. Students from Potomac state College and Garrett College will be able to get picked up from campus on Thursdays and Saturdays and enjoy a safe night out in Morgantown WV where the nightlife is full of college students having a great time. College Shuttle has a very strict no alcohol policy and underage drinking will not be accepted.

We are really looking forward to a great semester and expect to WOW all our students, parents and faculty with our service.

It’s been an incredible year for us. With growing demand for our services we have expanded our fleet of shuttles and our College Shuttle family. The launch of our new interactive web site was a success and families are finding it easier to navigate.

Our plans for 2013 and beyond are just as ambitious. We’ll be making our reservations process simpler, creating new routes and introducing new package deals. Everything we do is geared towards making the college experience a little easier by providing convenient transportation.

We appreciate your patronage and look forward to serving you for many years to come.

On behalf of College Shuttle: Thank you! We wouldn’t be here without you.

Wishing you & your family peace and prosperity; and a new year filled with joy.

Happy holidays!

Sincerely,

College Shuttle Team

We’ve had the opportunity to team up with Salisbury’s American Marketing Association (AMA). They have really been able to showcase their skills and what they have been learning in the classrooms while teaming with us and applying their marketing expertise to the student body. We are really impressed with the work that they have been doing and the campaigns that they have launched which has made a huge difference with the awareness of our services on campus. While in the Atrium, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss business with each member of the organization and toss them a cool t-shirt that we had made to let everyone know that we are building a great relationship and having fun doing it.

The day didn’t end in the Atrium, after we handled business it was time for some fun. We ordered a few pizzas, graded the D.J’s from Salisbury’s own WXSU radio station and headed to the Red Square on campus to have some fun. Students lined up while passing through the Red Square to grab a slice of free pizza and get some information about the American Marketing Association and the services of College Shuttle.

The parade included some really cool people like Lt. Governor Brown , Dr. Gibralter, Frostburg Firefighters, Veterans, some really cool bands and Ms. Frostburg.

The best part is that our chauffeurs were confused on how to get past the parade and to Bowery st to meet the band members and pick them up. While attempting to find a rod that wasn’t blocked off, they ended up in front of the parade and pretty much were the first ones to go all the way down main st. The chauffeurs took this opportunity to wave at all the people, it was really funny and they had a great time.

Not only was this event packed with fun, but it was also about business. When students took a break from all the fun activities that were on hand, they didnt go back to their dorm rooms. They stopped by one of the many tents BET had up. Students were lined up at the BET’s voter registrations booth, at the award winning  Rap It Up intitative to get a free HIV/AIDS test, and the BET internship tent.

We also had the opportunity to reach out to many students, share information, and anwser questions about our company and the transportation services we offer to the UMES student body. This was a flawless event for all joining parties and we are so glad to have been able to be apart of it. Keep up the great and positive work BET and see you next year.

Almost every Frostburg State on campus organization was in attendance sharing information and signing up new students to join. It actually began to get quite competitive as the recruiters from different used different tactics to get the attention of the new students. Some had the executives taking pies in the face, while others gave out free school supplies.

A few of the College Shuttle team members actually was able to take advantage of this event also. They answered any questions and shared tons of information not only with the student body in attendance, but also some of the locals that inquired about our services. We also was able to give a tour of one of the vehicles that we operate out of, showing off the cool stereo system and the flip down flat screen t.v that students love to watch movies on while they are being shuttled home for a fun weekend. Our representative really enjoyed themselves and said they are really looking forward to next years block party.