Purdue’s Campus Connect shuttle celebrates ‘moon milestone’

INDIANAPOLIS — Long known for its enduring legacy in space exploration, Purdue University is celebrating a different kind of lunar milestone this week.

On Monday (Jan. 12), Purdue’s Campus Connect shuttle will have officially “reached the moon” in total mileage traveled — an incredible 238,900 miles — since launching Aug. 12, 2024.

Connecting the bookends of Purdue’s main campus between West Lafayette and Indianapolis, the shuttles have welcomed over 75,000 riders on nearly 5,000 total routes since service began shortly after the inauguration of Purdue University in Indianapolis. Campus Connect provides a critical link to both locations, allowing stress-free travel for Purdue faculty, staff and students to enjoy everything from research and study opportunities to entertainment and nightlife options in West Lafayette and Indianapolis.

“Whether you are in West Lafayette or Indianapolis, we are One Purdue, and the Campus Connect shuttle continues to serve as a vital piece of the connective tissue between our main campus locations,” said Evan Hawkins, Purdue’s senior director of administrative operations for Indianapolis. “We are pleased that so many of our students, faculty and staff have taken advantage of the shuttle to enhance their overall Purdue experience.”

To celebrate the occasion, Campus Connect riders were greeted with Moon Pies at Student Center and the first-floor lobby of Sigma Theta Tau in Indianapolis and at the Purdue Memorial Union in West Lafayette, and they were recognized as “Official Lunar Mileage Passengers” through printed certificates. Purdue is known as the Cradle of Astronauts because of its extraordinary influence on the U.S. space program, specifically the 32 Boilermakers who have been chosen to become astronauts.

You can learn more about the Campus Connect shuttle pickup and drop-off locations, itinerary, and how to book your next ride here.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.