Fact: According to a 2016 study regarding the diversity in age for community college students, 27 years old was the average age of a community college student.

According to a 2024 blog about the number of licensed drivers within the United States of America, 19% of 20-to-24 year olds in the United States do not have a driver’s licenses.

And, in some cases, some adults do not even have their learner’s permit.

Now, how do middle-aged people attending community colleges and middle-aged people who cannot drive correlate at all? Well, it is very simple: How are middle-aged people getting to and from community college if they do not have a mode of transportation (and do not do online courses)? That is where the shuttle system comes to play.

Well, the Northern Essex Community College shuttle system, of course. Sorry to any of those other community colleges that may or may not have a shuttle system. But, this community college sure does! In comes the Northern Essex Community College shuttle system. And, if you have gotten to know me this semester, you have probably seen me on the shuttle heading between the Lawrence and Haverhill campuses multiple times by now.

Fact: According to a 2021 research study by the Washington, D.C.-based Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation, only 57% of community college campuses in the United States have transit stops (within walking distance).

To say that the Northern Essex shuttle has not helped me at all would be one of the biggest lies that I have ever told in my eighteen years existing on this planet.

This simple, efficient mode of transportation has been responsible for my continuation to learn and excel in my classes, as half of them are on the Haverhill campus, including my Journalism class.

How else would I be able to learn and elaborate on how to become a top-tier writer and journalist?

The Northern Essex shuttle is also quite the underdog when it comes to conversation about the greatest positive additions that the community college has to offer.

Sure, an award-winning student-led newspaper like the Observer is spectacular, but how are students going to enable themselves to keep going if they have no way of heading between campuses to discuss among their peers and the public?

The transportation sure goes a long way. The popularity behind the shuttle is hidden fairly well, too.

As a frequent shuttle user, I have seen the shuttle be packed very frequently. However, the size of the shuttle is understandably fair, as there are enough seats to house nearly twenty people at a time.

And, trust me, there are a ton of Lawrence-based students that do not have other modes of transportation besides the shuttle to get to their 8 A.M. classes.

With a favorable addition to an educational institution such as a transportation service, though, comes criticism and disadvantages. And, although I do hold the Northern Essex shuttle system deep in my heart, there is one thing that I can share about it: when you forget to wake up to your alarm. Just joking. The shuttle is as perfect as it is (minus whenever you cannot fit on it due to no more available seats, so you have to wait for another shuttle to come as you sit there and think about life. That’s the worst).

I could ramble on and on about the Northern Essex shuttle system and how it has helped me continue to further my knowledge and perspective on community college as a whole, but I think that, with summer coming up, I want to at least be able to drive the short 15-minute distance between my Lawrence home and my classes on the Haverhill campus. I might just have to close my Northern Essex shuttle chapter. For good.