This fall, Cal Poly students who rely on San Luis Obispo’s buses are learning the difference 10 minutes can make when it comes to getting to class on time.
For master’s student Esther Duong, the end of “Cal Poly time”—classes and meetings starting 10 or 40 minutes after the hour—means frequent races for buses that get her to campus a little too early.
“It definitely does eat into all of my other schedules. I have to be really mindful of the clock when I’m working or just making lunch or doing other activities,” she said. “I get to campus 30 minutes or so before class. Sometimes, I feel like … I can’t really do anything with 30 minutes … so I feel less productive and feel like I’m wasting time.”
Having a few extra minutes to kill is better than the alternative: missing class altogether.
Earlier this semester, Duong would hop on the 4B bus that arrived around 2:30 to make it to her 3 p.m. class.
The bus would drop her off at the Cal Poly stop at 2:55 p.m., leaving her with only five minutes to walk to class. Under Cal Poly time, that class would have started at 3:10 p.m. and bought her a few more minutes. Now, Duong gets on the 2 p.m. bus to get to campus.
Cal Poly’s Academic Senate Instruction Committee adopted the resolution to sunset Cal Poly time in 2024 to take effect in fall term 2026. According to the resolution, the history of and reason for the adjusted time “remains elusive,” and “no longer appears to have relevance to current campus operations and scheduling.”
The academic senate decided to eliminate Cal Poly time after a winter 2023 survey of almost 400 faculty members found that nearly half of them favored doing away with the time. Twenty-five percent of faculty members said they had no preference either way.
“Eliminating Cal Poly time addressed long-standing scheduling mismatches for faculty, staff, and students, some of whom followed Cal Poly time and some of whom did not,” Cal Poly spokesperson Keegan Koberl told New Times.
To campusgoers depending on public transport, the end of Cal Poly time created a problem similar to a dilemma others faced when it was active.
‘I haven’t discussed it formally with my professor but he kind of seems to notice that a handful of students are not in class at the designated meeting time.’
—Kat Smith, Cal Poly student
In a 2024 Mustang News report about the academic senate’s decision, senate Chair Jerusha Greenwood said if a class goes from 9:10 to 11 a.m. and a meeting starts at 11 a.m., there’s no opportunity for a student or a faculty member to get from class to that meeting on time because the meeting starts on the hour.
Koberl said that ultimately, decisions about bus service changes rest with the city.
“Conversations about semester conversion and the end of Poly time happened over several years during the planning and implementation process,” he said. “We understand that those decisions are made with the needs of both Cal Poly and the broader SLO community in mind.”
Under SLO Transit’s daily fixed-route service, city residents can take buses that run along eight routes from 6 a.m. to 11:10 p.m.
Along with the Old SLO Trolley, they can also access supplemental transit services like the Highland Tripper that provides additional morning service between the Foothill and Highland neighborhoods and Cal Poly; the Laguna Tripper that connects downtown SLO, Foothill, and Laguna Middle School; the San Luis Tripper that connects downtown SLO and SLO High School, and the 6 Express between downtown SLO and Cal Poly.
According to SLO Assistant Director of Public Works Madeline Kacsinta, simply adjusting the existing bus schedule by five to 10 minutes to help college students could create a domino effect for people who need to catch the connecting countywide buses run by the SLO Regional Transit Authority.
“We want to make sure that we’re improving the experience for students without creating new problems for students and other riders,” she said. “So, if we were to move that system or that bus five, 10 minutes earlier or later … it might align with some [schedules] but not all.”
Kacsinta told New Times that Cal Poly alerted the city about the end of Cal Poly time in early 2025. SLO has been monitoring ridership data in real time and working closely with the university to see where services can be improved. Potential changes to the bus schedule would take place next spring at the earliest, she said.
“The city’s SLO Transit system has never aligned with Poly time. Our typical schedule does not arrive like, 15, 10 minutes before the hour in any case,” Kacsinta said.
The city considers all types of residents when setting the schedule, she added. More routes and bus drivers are needed to accommodate students adjusting to the new schedule, which would require greater funding from the university.
In fiscal year 2025-26, SLO Transit’s total operating expenses were $5.4 million. Cal Poly contributes $750,000 annually through the transit agreement. That year, Cal Poly-affiliated passengers made up nearly 67 percent of SLO Transit rides—comprising more than 486,000 of almost 724,000 trips.
“There’s obviously an agreement between Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo that pays for a portion of that so that students can ride free,” Kacsinta said. “The remaining operating costs are funded through a combination of federal and state transit funding, local transportation funding, passenger fares, and other revenues.”
Kacsinta encouraged students and faculty to reach out to the city with their experiences using the bus. They can provide feedback at (805) 594-8090 or email slotransit@slocity.org. Riders can also track buses in real time using the Transit App, and call (805) 541-2877 for routes, schedules, and trip planning.
To master’s student Duong, taking the bus is better for the environment and her wallet. Even though she owns a car, she said she picks public transportation over driving whenever she has the chance. The city and regional planning major moved to SLO after graduating from UC Davis—where classes also started 10 minutes after the hour.
“The bus system is interesting in Davis in that it’s run by students,” Duong said. “Because of that, the bus system was meant to accommodate for a 10-minute difference, and I never had to think about choosing an earlier bus time.”
But not every Cal Poly student without a car can make it to campus ahead of time.
Third-year student Kat Smith would have to wake up at 5 a.m. to catch the 6:30 bus for her 8 a.m. class. Since that’s not feasible, she takes the next bus at 7:30 a.m., which drops her off at 7:56. While her professor seems easygoing, Smith’s occasionally lost out on valuable time if a quiz is scheduled at the beginning of class.
“I haven’t discussed it formally with my professor but he kind of seems to notice that a handful of students are not in class at the designated meeting time,” Smith said. “He hasn’t said anything about it, but he prevents starting the lecture until five or 10 minutes in, so that all the students who are taking the buses trickle into the classroom.” ∆
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2026.
