LTU file photo.

Tech Transit, Lawrence Technological University’s student transportation system, posted its sixth straight year of record ridership in the 2017-18 school year.

Eric Green, director of the system, said ridership hit 14,550 in the last school year, up from 12,400 the year before and 11,200 the year before that. When introduced in the 2012-13 school year, ridership was 4,040.

Tech Transit consists of four 15-passenger airport-style vans, staffed by about two dozen student drivers. Those drivers must pass a background check and possess a Michigan chauffeur’s license. The vans are maintained by the university’s in-house mechanics.

The vans cover five routes linking Lawrence Tech’s main campus in Southfield to the rest of the community:

• The Green Route, the longest, links LTU’s Southfield campus to its Detroit Center for Design + Technology at Woodward Avenue and Willis Street in midtown Detroit. It operates from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, following DCDT’s class schedules.
• The Blue Route connects LTU’s campus to businesses on Evergreen Road as well as the Arbor Lofts apartments, home to many LTU students. Service runs from early morning to late evening Monday through Thursday, with morning service Fridays and midday service Saturdays and Sundays.
• The Silver Route links LTU’s campus to nearby Southfield attractions such as the Tel-Twelve shopping center and the Southfield AMC Star theaters. It operates seven days a week from 4:30 to 11 p.m., as well as weekday mornings at 10 and 11 a.m.
• The Orange Route connects LTU’s campus with services such as Michigan First Credit Union, an urgent care center, the Southfield Transportation Center and the Southfield Post Office. It runs seven days a week from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., prime errand time.
• The Maroon Route, the newest route, will be added this fall, linking LTU’s main campus with LTU’s Audio Engineering Technology recording studios in Plymouth.

All routes are free to students with LTU ID cards. The vans also run on a limited schedule for LTU’s summer students.

Green joined LTU as cross country coach in 2012 from Oakland Community College, where he was also transportation director for the athletic department. He added oversight of the Tech Transit system to his LTU responsibilities in 2016.

Green said future goals for Tech Transit include providing transportation to LTU’s athletic teams, thus saving money on bus rental, and adding a route to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.