No car, no problem: Getting around Pullman is easy

From late-night buses to conveniently placed bike racks, there’s no shortage of transportation options that make it easy to get around town and campus.

“Navigating is a lot easier once you realize Pullman is made up of four hills: College Hill, Pioneer Hill, Military Hill and Sunnyside Hill,” said Dale Tronsen, the safety and training officer for Pullman Transit, the department that operates the city’s bus system.

Pullman is divided into four sections along Main Street and Grand Avenue, with Military Hill in the northwest, College Hill in the northeast, Sunnyside Hill in the southwest and Pioneer Hill in the southeast.

Students get unlimited access to the transit system, which runs through campus and most of the city, when they purchase their Cougar Cards. All they have to do is show their cards to the driver upon boarding a bus.

“The bus drivers are extremely helpful and will tell you which stop to get off at, or which bus you should transfer to if needed,” said Kaitlyn Jo Engle, a junior who uses the bus system frequently.

The express routes are the quickest options to and from campus during the week. Letter routes A, E, I and J service residential neighborhoods. The north and south routes run until midnight.

Pullman Transit also recently introduced a 35-minute loop route that runs through campus, to Walmart on Bishop Boulevard, through downtown Pullman and to Dissmores IGA on Grand Avenue. Details on each route can be found on the Pullman Transit website.

The website also offers a free application called “Where’s My Bus?” – an interactive map that displays the location of each bus on its respective route. When a user hovers the mouse over a bus stop on the map, the site indicates when the next bus will stop there. It is accurate within about 20 seconds of travel time.

Those who have difficulty boarding a bus or getting to a stop may register for Pullman’s Dial-a-Ride service, which sends a van directly to a rider’s location. The vans frequent the same area as the buses, but rides after 9 p.m. must be scheduled ahead of time.

Students may also utilize the Green Bike program, a rental bike-sharing system that enables riders to borrow bicycles from 11 racks on and around campus. Again, all that’s required is a Cougar Card, which riders swipe at the rack.

A free mobile app called Spotcycle, which can be found on the Green Bike website, displays how many bikes are available at each rack in real time.

The bikes are available each day from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and must be returned to a station by midnight. There’s a $5 fine for anyone who doesn’t return a bike on time.

Taxis are another option for getting around town, with several businesses operating in the area. Some offer flat rates for trips to the Palouse Mall in downtown Moscow and the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport.