Shuttle/Uber Ride to/from Campus and Airport

Hello, Our daughter very recently committed to UR!. Looking forward to the next 4 years. Any suggestions on the ride to campus and cost per ride? Does UR Shuttle run to/from airport daily or not? Thanks!

Hi there. I think a lot depends on where you are coming from. My kids are from the west coast and so they can’t get into Richmond until late. They haven’t had any luck with the shuttles and have instead taken taxies and Uber’s… but after the first year, usually can find a friend to drive them or pick them up. The cost varies on what time they get in from like 20ish to 50ish. Not ideal but do-able. I think it’s much easier for those with shorter flights or at least in the same time zone.

Thank you so much for your reply. Very helpful info. For us, though in CT, there is no direct flight!

@Blore2023 No direct flight from CT, ouch! Is there Amtrak service?

Sorry, my bad… I shortened it for central time. We live in Midwest. And, yes, no Amtrak or direct flight ?

Our D is a graduating senior. We live 5 time zones away from Richmond, so our D always needs to connect somewhere when flying to and from Richmond. She’s been very fortunate and has only had a flight delay on the way to Richmond once in 4 years, and that was a pre-departure cancellation when O’Hare was snowed in. She has become very adept at riding both Uber and Lyft (whichever is cheapest for a particular trip) and at flying through various major hub airports. For her, rideshares on Uber or Lyft to and from Richmond Airport have typically been in the $20s to $30s range per trip.

Based on available connecting flights for us, she typically has to arrive in Richmond in mid-morning after rush hour, so Uber/Lyft trips to the campus area are not expensive at all. I have always had her scheduled to arrive in Richmond the day before dorms open (in case there was a flight delay), stay in a local hotel near campus, and either take the hotel shuttle or Uber/Lyft again to campus the next day. If you only live one time zone away, this may not be needed for your student.

Likewise, our D needs to take very early morning flights to make connections to flights to our city when flying home, so we’ve had her Uber/Lyft to a hotel at the Richmond Airport where she stays the night before departure, and she takes the hotel shuttle to the terminal the next day.

She has not had her own car in 4 years at UR. She also gets rides from friends, but even when she needs to go somewhere in the local area on her own, she has never had any issues with Uber or Lyft. Due to our D’s flight times, the UR airport shuttle has not usually been a viable option for her. I presume many students without cars are utilizing ridesharing options and our D noted that the frequency of the UR local shuttle bus has also been reduced.

@ARTCC, First, congratulations to your graduating daughter and proud parents! Reading your note above, I got the feeling that she must have had a great 4 years at UR. Thank you so much for your detailed response above, as it will for many and certainly for us, put things in perspective and plan ahead on travels and arrival times at Richmond. Glad to note also that students don’t necessarily need to have their own car on campus. Best wishes!

@Blore2023 Thank you for your kind words. Indeed, we are very proud of our D. She has had a great 4 years at UR, with great academic accomplishments and personal growth, making lifelong friends along the way, and having unique experiences she probably would not have been able to at most other colleges.

Because of the small class sizes at UR, several of her professors have gotten to know her very well, taken an interest in her future, and become mentors for her. It’s hard to imagine this happening at a massive university with enormous lecture halls and very large classes taught by graduate student assistants where students can become just another face in the crowd. No college is perfect, but we are very thankful our D was accepted to and chose UR. We visited her top three college choices during her high school senior year Fall break (including UR), and based on those visits, she chose to apply ED to UR and was accepted.

For those considering UR, we suggest visiting the beautiful and very walkable campus when classes are in session so that prospective students can sit in on actual classes after the formal admissions presentation and campus tour. We enjoyed walking around the campus on our own in the late afternoon the day before our scheduled formal campus tour and admissions program to start forming our own impressions while observing students, campus life, and the well maintained grounds and buildings.

Congratulations to the parents of accepted students for the UR incoming class and to those who are currently UR students.

May I also add that for students who must fly to and from Richmond, the Richmond Airport is about as nice and convenient as you can get for a city of that size. We highly recommend that students who will be flying to and from college enroll in TSA PreChek to speed things up and reduce stress at departure airports and enroll in the frequent flyer program(s) for the airline(s) you prefer. We use our preferred airline’s credit cards to earn award miles with our monthly expense spending along with the mileage I earn for business and personal travel. Most of our D’s flights between home and Richmond have been on award tickets, which usually have a much lower change fee if you need to make a change than purchased tickets, and reduce her travel costs.

@ARTCC, Excellent summary of UR from a parent perspective and observation/experience. I too had very similar takeaway from our visit.
Your TSA PreCheck tip is golden! We’ll go ahead and enroll. Tyvm.