Foreign students staying at the yo:HA @ 190 Hostel in Boon Lay are experiencing long waiting times for limited free shuttle buses and slow internet connection speed in the hostel during the day.

The university is using the off-campus hostel to house foreign students on exchange programmes to the National University of Singapore.

University of Carlifornia, Los Angeles political science major Jeffrey Shun, told The Observer he was under the impression that the hostel was near campus after viewing the locations on a map.

"We were on the cab (from the airport) and we saw the university as we drove past it,” said Shun.

“And after 10 minutes later we were still driving and were really puzzled we were driving so far away from it,” he added.

According to its website, the NUS Office of Student Affairs has made provisions for a free bus shuttle service between the hostel in Boon Lay and the NUS Kent Ridge campus.

These shuttle buses are scheduled to run five times in the morning between 7.15 and 9.15 at half-hourly intervals, and three times in the evenings between 8.15 p.m. and 10.15 p.m. at hourly intervals, and are only available on weekdays during term time.

“We got five buses in the morning and three in evenings. Some 40 students get on each bus and the rest get left behind. Do the math. It won’t add up,” said Zachary Kulberg, a fourth-year life science student from University of California, Santa Cruz.

The Observer found a queue of about 50 students at the bus stop in front of the Central Library as early as 45 minutes before the arrival of the first evening bus at 8.15 p.m on Monday evening.

However, not all students in the queue managed to board the first evening bus due to its limited capacity. The next bus was scheduled to arrive an hour later.

Kulberg said that similar situations happen in the mornings when students queue in advance to take the two buses that leave the hostel at 9.00 a.m. and 9.15 a.m.

He also said the last bus that leaves the Central Library bus stop at 10.15 p.m. is “restrictive” as he cannot stay back on campus till late and has to plan his schedule around the waiting times.

University of California, Santa Cruz student P.J. Policarpio said most hostel residents prefer to commute to campus on the free shuttle buses because they did not anticipate the frequent usage of public transportation and did not budget for it. 

“If we take our own transport, it’d cost us so much more,” he said, adding that he would have to make bus-MRT transfers if he takes public transportation. 

According to him, this would usually take at least 40 minutes and cost about $3 per trip. While a taxi ride would half the travelling time, it would cost between $10 and $12 depending on the time of day.

Students living at the Boon Lay hostel travel to campus even on days when they do not have lessons because of the free and unlimited internet access on the campus network.

“I like to do independent studies and read journals of scientists and researchers I’m interested in. And I can’t download notes or load a page at yo:HA,” said Kulberg.

University of California, Berkeley student Rita Ganguli said she could only access the internet at yo:HA after midnight on most occasions.

“I try to go online and it only works after 2 a.m., when everyone is asleep,” she said.

The Observer learnt from notices posted around the yo:HA hostel that internet access could be disrupted from maintenance works are being carried out on the premises.

Both the NUS Office of Students Affairs and International Relations Office were unable to comment at press time.