Josh Alschuler, creator of Scoober, tabled by the University Hill underpass earlier this year. He talked to students about current nightlife transportation and what improvements they want to see implemented. (Courtesy of Josh Alschuler)
Josh Alschuler is familiar with the commute after a night out.
When the sophomore electrical engineering major was a freshman, he lived in Williams Village at the University of Colorado Boulder. The neighborhood is over a mile from central main campus and even further from the University Hill, the closest social hub to campus. He said he liked living there, other than the uncertainties about how he was going to get to and from weekend festivities.
Alschuler encountered many obstacles. Buff buses stop running before midnight. The walk is over 30 minutes in the dark. Bikes and electric scooters are dangerous under the influence. Uber and Lyft prices spike on the weekends. CU NightRide, a free ride-share service for students that runs from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. on the weekends, has long wait-times.
“Almost everyone I talk to agrees with me that we do have an issue with transportation at night and that there aren’t really great options right now,” he said.
This drove Alschuler to a solution he named Scoober, a late-night bus operating Thursday through Saturday from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m., servicing off-campus neighborhoods. It would run significantly on revenue from advertisements and sponsors, costing students no extra cost.
From the ground up
Alschuler announced the start-up on social media in December 2025, gaining over 500 followers and thousands of views on TikTok videos featuring his progress. His current task is building relationships with the community.
Tyler Roy, a CU freshman who lived in Williams Village last fall before moving home to Lafayette, said he went out to the Hill at least once a week. He said he took the Buff bus to Main Campus around 10 p.m. and walked 30 minutes home.
“It’s fine, it’s just slow and it sucks when it’s cold,” he said.
Alschuler deployed a survey to CU students with similar sentiments to Roy. The majority of the respondents said they use ride-share services or walk home on the weekends and would use Scoober.
“What’s the most unique about Scoober is instead of trying to start with getting a bus … or trying to start with the top, you start with the students,” Alschuler said. “You show the students support this. Students need this.”
All but two survey respondents said they think Scoober would reduce dangerous late-night walking and drunk driving.
Jack Rosenthal, a software engineer and candidate for the Regional Transportation District (RTD) Board of Directors, said he believed the lack of night transportation contributes to the increase in DUIs. According to Boulder Police Department, there was an increase in DUIs from 175 reported in 2023, to 325 in 2025.
“If you know that your only option home at midnight or 2 a.m. is going to be driving yourself, why would you take transit?” he said.
Alschuler met with Rosenthal in January and Boulder City Council member Nicole Speer to discuss the logistics of running a privately-owned bus with public stops. The student said Scoober would need permission and support from various entities, depending on where the buses would operate.
Alschuler’s proposed bus route includes stops at the Hill, Pearl Street, East Campus and WillVill, operating in clockwise and counterclockwise loops. Neighborhoods that house students like the Hill, Goss Grove and East Aurora are close to those stops.
The proposed route for Scoober buses that Alshuler promoted on flyers around campus. (Courtesy of Josh Alschuler)
Rosenthal said that prior to 2020, there was a late-night HOP bus like Scoober that was terminated during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said there is now an opportunity to reinstate something similar.
“We could operate a night service specifically in Boulder, because we have the ridership we need for it,” Rosenthal said.
A significant challenge for RTD is rising labor costs, which create budget restrictions.
Alschuler is aiming to receive funding through sponsorships and advertisements from local businesses. In February, Baseline Liquor Store signed a non-binding letter of intent to offer Scoober $200 per month if the business were to take off. Alschuler hopes to gain similar support from other nightlife businesses like venues, bars and liquor stores.
CU digital marketing professor Bridget Barrett said that advertisements, like bus exteriors wrapped in ads and posters along the interior walls, are a reliable revenue stream for public transit.
“I think that could definitely offset some of the costs,” she said. “I would not expect it to be able to pay for an entire free service.”
Alschuler wants each bus to be embellished with screen panels to project local advertisements. This would include ceiling and floor LED video paneling, high-resolution screens, branding on the seats and static posters lining the upper rim of the walls.
A rendered reference to serve as inspiration for the bus interior. Alschuler likes the party-bus layout to promote social interactions and meeting new people. (Courtesy of Josh Alschuler)
He estimated that a bus would cost $10,000 to operate per month, but he plans to raise $2,000 from sponsors through letters of intent, before operation. He said this indicates that Scoober is achievable through support from the community.
Alschuler registered Scoober for CU’s 2026 New Venture Challenge, an annual series of student and faculty entrepreneurial events and competitions. If he passes the first two rounds of competition, finals take place on Apr. 22 at Boulder Theater. Standing participants can win up more than $270,000 to kickstart and fund their innovations.
“People are going to go out anyway. People are going to drink anyway,” he said. “It’s better to give them means to do it safely than to just expect them not to do it.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sarah Taylor at Sarah.Taylor@colorado.edu
