Commencement at Emory, held this year on Monday, May 8, brings an estimated 15,000 visitors from all over the world to campus for a joyous celebration, the making of happy memories and, inevitably, very heavy traffic.  

Guests, students, faculty and staff of Emory should be prepared for heavy traffic and delays before, during and after the main ceremony and individual schools’ diploma ceremonies.

Extreme congestion on the roads is expected from about 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., with heavy traffic continuing through the early afternoon of May 8.

Managers are urged to identify staff members who do not need to be on campus on the morning of May 8 for mission-critical or Commencement-support roles and to work with them on flexible or off-site schedules. Employees who are able to work off campus are encouraged to do so at least during the morning of May 8.

Those employees who must be on campus are urged to avoid Clifton, Houston Mill, North Decatur and Briarcliff roads where these are immediately adjacent to campus.

Shuttle schedules

As in past years, the university’s shuttle service will be configured to serve guests and those on campus in the morning and the early afternoon.

The shuttle service will also be modified to accommodate special Commencement guest shuttles. All shuttles for specific Commencement service will be plainly marked.

Normal shuttle service resumes at 3 p.m.

• Emory Transportation and Parking (TPS) has set the following Commencement guest shuttle routes and times:
• Route C (orange) – Clairmont campus  at the Starvine deck to the Quadrangle from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Route M (yellow) – Michael Street parking deck to the Quadrangle; from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Route P (blue) – Peavine decks  to the Quadrangle from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Route L (red), which will run from Lowergate South and Fishburne parking decks to the Quadrangle, will operate from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For employees, TPS notes the following schedule changes:

• Route B. No trips at 7:15 a.m., 7:45 a.m., 8:15 a.m. and 8:45 a.m.  There will also be no service after 6:45 p.m.
• Route D/DX: 5 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. from Peavine to Woodruff Circle only. No service on Fishburne or Dowman. Normal D service resumes at 9:30 a.m.
• Executive Park: 7 a.m.-11:20 a.m. and 1 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Loop: No service until 3 p.m.
• 1525-VA Route: No service until 3:10 p.m. from the Starvine Deck

TPS cautions employees that due to the increase in service on this day, many of the buses serving the regular routes may not be visible on TransLoc, the online vehicle tracking system. While every effort to maintain normal schedules will be made, heavy traffic around campus will impact service schedules.

The following shuttles will have normal schedules and routes:

• A route
• C route (employee shuttle will be appropriately marked)
• CCTMA/Decatur
• E route
• EUHM/EUH
• Executive Park Summer schedule begins
• Grady
• M route (employee shuttle will be appropriately marked)
• North DeKalb Park-n-Ride
• South DeKalb Park-n-Ride