It became clear that Liberty University needed to address parking and transportation in a brand new way when it took over 30 minutes just to drive between Green Hall and the Carter Glass Mansion, a distance of less than a mile, during a regular class change in September 2006. The Liberty Transit was started October 13, 2006 and initiated a series of changes that would make the university a pedestrian campus while still allowing the vast campus resources to be within a 20 minute commute without the use of a personal vehicle. During the first semester, the 6-bus system that included two 1960’s church buses carried 169,200 passengers.

Today over 2 million passengers are carried on the system each year. The Intra Campus Transit System, largely operated through a partnership with the Greater Lynchburg Transit Company (GLTC) is now a 3 route system that operates over 150 hours a week. Fourteen clean diesel and hybrid electric low floor buses, all less than three years old, provide service as frequent as every 4-6 minutes between the academic centers.  Service is provided to all four residence hall areas – South Campus, The Hill, East Campus, and the Liberty Residential Annex between 5:00 AM – 2:30 AM on weekdays.  Also through expanding partnerships with GLTC and local apartment communities, special commuter transit routes are being implemented to provide alternatives for students living off campus. A comprehensive carpool program complete with a Guaranteed Ride Home program and three park and ride lots also provide alternative and cost saving means of accessing the campus. Students also have access to transportation to/from the Lynchburg Regional Airport and Kemper Amtrak/Greyhound Station around the major campus holidays with some limited service available to the Roanoke Regional Airport.

Since partnering with Liberty, GLTC has been awarded the 2009 Outstanding Transit System Award from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).  Former Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine said GLTC is setting an example in the industry, “as we work at the state and local levels to ensure a greener, more sustainable transportation system in Virginia.” He said GLTC’s use of hybrid-electric buses and local partnerships with universities “have the potential to increase ridership while reducing traffic, greenhouse gases and fuel consumption.” Liberty accounts for nearly 2/3 of GLTC's total ridership and is one of the most used transit systems at college campuses.

Service Milestones

• Oct 13, 2006: Liberty Transit started with 4 very old buses, 2 buses to circle (Red Route) and 2 to campus east (Blue Route) – 2,200 estimated rides the first day.  No one wanted to admit that they rode the bus when Dr. Falwell asked during convocation that day for a number of hands that rode the new bus service.
• Nov 2006: added 2-1997 Thomas buses to Red and Blue Routes, Expanded service to 10 PM; limited Saturday hours started
• Jan 2007 – GLTC operation began, started full weekends, week day service extended to midnight; extended service to Candlers Station on nights and weekends
• Feb 2007 - started Express route using 1 Liberty bus during peak times only
• Mar 2007 – students could use ID to ride GLTC route 4F/4E for free to the mall/Wards Road
• Jul 2007 – started UPASS – ride all GLTC buses for free with Liberty ID
• Aug 2007 – added 3rd bus to Red Route, moved Express Route to GLTC and expanded to 2 buses, added Green Route to Wards Road area
• Sep 28 2007: Liberty Transit reaches 1,000,000 passengers
• Mar 11, 2008: Liberty Transit reaches 2,000,000 passengers
• Aug 2008 – extended Red Route to south campus and added 4th bus, added 3rd bus to Blue Route, expanded Express Route to 3 buses, started Orange Route route to Residential Annex; added 2^nd bus to 4F route; started Park and Ride program with the Mall and Plaza; started Carpool Program  
• Oct 2008 – moved start time from 7 AM to 5:30 AM.  Moved end time from midnight to 2 AM
• Oct 10, 2008: Liberty Transit reaches 3,000,000 passengers
• Jan 2009 – added 6 - 35’ low floor buses
• Feb 2009 – run 1-2 35’ electric hybrid buses on campus daily
• Feb 27, 2009 - Liberty Transit reaches 4,000,000 passengers
• Mar 2009 - Enhanced route naming structure to take advantage of improved bus reader board signs; began using external and interior audio location queues:
  • Red Route became L1
  • Blue Route became L2
  • Orange Route became L3
  • Express Route became LX1
  • Green Route became 14
• Apr 2009: GLTC public routes uploaded to Google Transit
• Jul 2009 - began posting service announcements on Twitter
• Aug 2009 – added 4^th bus to LX1, started route 15 to Cornerstone apartments; expanded service to Snowflex Centre; expanded 4F service times.
• Aug 23-29 2009 - set single week record with 94,964 passengers
• Aug 27, 2009: Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine announced that GLTC has received the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) 2009 Most Outstanding Transit Achievement Award
• Oct 2009 – added 2^nd bus to L3 from M-F 7 AM – 5:30 PM.
• Oct 3, 2009: Liberty Transit reaches 5,000,000 passengers
• Oct 5, 2009 - started service to Lynchburg Airport and Kemper Station for major university breaks
• Jan 2010 – added 4 - 35’ Gillig Clean Diesel low floor buses; started Guaranteed Ride Home program
• Feb 19, 2010 - set single day passenger record with 19,955 passengers
• Feb 19, 2010 - Liberty Transit reaches 6,000,000 passengers
• Mar 14, 2010 - added limited service to Roanoke Regional Airport for major university breaks
• July 19, 2010 – added 3 – 40’ Gillig Hybrid Electric low floor buses to LX1 route
• Aug 14, 2010 – start the Liberty Annex Park and Ride service
• Aug 23, 2010 – expanded L3 service to 2 AM, extend weekend night service on Routes L1 and L2A, begin Route 16 with service to Walden Pond, Forestbrook, County Green, and Old Mill apartment areas
• Jan 12, 2011 - expanded service to 2:30 AM and changed the route structure to a by-directional system that will improve overall service on the campus and allow for future expansion.  Created an express route from the Plaza to Green Hall every hour. 
• May 15, 2011- created a summer shuttle route during the day Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. covering DeMoss Hall, East Campus, and the Tilley Center every 15 minutes.
• May 15, 2011- Developed a partnership with seven local hotels to provide shuttle service for our on-line intensive students from their hotels to Liberty with a return trip back in the afternoon.
• August 22, 2011- we created our first express park and ride route from the Walmart on Old Forest road directly to campus and back.  We make the trip 4 times in the morning and twice in the afternoon.
• August 22, 2011-created our first off campus airport route that serviced our new Aviation Academic Center.
• August 22, 2011- created our second apartment community route that serviced Old Mill Townhomes, Forest Brook, Walden Pond and Park Place.
• January 16, 2012- we increased our services to the Cornerstone Community with evening hours making night classes a possibility from Cornerstone without the use of a car.
• January 16, 2012- we increased the services to our Apartment Community route to every hour throughout the day and services to Cornerstone were increased to every 30 minutes.
• March 1, 2012- we enhanced our shuttle services to include an on-line reservation form and increased trips to the Roanoke Airport.  Over 120 students took advantage of our new and improved on-line system for spring break.