Campus & Beyond Campus-to-Campus Bus Designs Meld Art and Transit Stories You May Like How Much Do You Know About the Big Red in the Big Apple? Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Hotelie Runs Iconic NYC Bar With Red Hot Hockey, Annual MSG Tradition Keeps Sizzling We take you behind the scenes as a Big Red motorcoach is ‘wrapped’—Ithaca views on one side, NYC on the other By Joe Wilensky Photography & videography by Jason Koski You might spot it on the highway—breezing along Route 81 near Scranton or Route 80 in New Jersey, or rolling through the Lincoln Tunnel into NYC. It’s occasionally at rest, pausing to pick up or drop off passengers on the Hill or in Manhattan. But wherever you may see it, the Campus-to-Campus Bus evokes your alma mater. It sports not just carnelian red and the University insignia, but panoramic views of the Upstate and Downstate campuses—a picturesque traveling postcard. The debut wrap at Grand Central Terminal in 2011 ... ... and a 2013 design outside Sage Hall. Cornell launched the service (nicknamed C2C) in 2004, offering nonstop daily routes between the Ithaca campus and NYC, complete with wi-fi and comfortable seating. Today, the fleet includes six 32-passenger buses that make 15 round trips weekly, with a reduced schedule in summer. The fleet includes six 32-passenger buses that make 15 round trips weekly, with a reduced schedule in summer. The service is available to the public, though Cornell-affiliated riders pay a lower fare. In the 2026 fiscal year, C2C tallied more than 30,000 passenger trips. In addition to three stops on the Hill, the bus makes two in Manhattan: the Cornell Club in Midtown, and Weill Cornell Medicine on the Far East Side. A timelapse of the newest design being applied. The coaches initially sported just the C2C logo, but beginning in 2010, the University began giving them vinyl photographic wraps that transform them into stunning billboards, splashing views across the sides of the 45-foot-long vehicles. The wraps are printed on a specialized 3M product that’s applied at the C2C facility just off campus. A wrap typically lasts a bus’s entire service life—about seven years and 400,000–500,000 miles—before it’s retired, says Billy Meade, C2C’s fleet manager. Installation typically takes place over the course of two or three days, as pieces of the 1,200-square-foot wrap are carefully fitted to the bus’s sides and contours, and trimmed around ports and windows. Joe Wilensky / Cornell UniversityThe buses once sported just a logo. Red panels and University branding are added to the front and rear. The wrap is breathable, Meade notes, so air pockets can be eliminated during application. “You can use heat to manipulate it to go around the corners, make it stretch a bit,” he says. “It’s tacky, so if you make a mistake, you can pull it away and rework the area.” A wrap typically lasts a bus’s entire service life—about seven years and 400,000–500,000 miles. Using images taken by the University’s photographers, the vibrant designs have typically juxtaposed a Big Apple view with similar Ithaca campus perspective. Early versions featured both Upstate and Downstate on each side—with a visual transition, such as the branches of an Arts Quad tree fading into the deck of the Brooklyn Bridge—while more recent ones have put Ithaca on one side and NYC on the other. Stories You May Like How Much Do You Know About the Big Red in the Big Apple? Where Everybody Knows Your Name: Hotelie Runs Iconic NYC Bar Cornell Athletics In 2015, the C2C got a “mini-me”: a Lynah ice resurfacer. The newest design shows the Midtown skyline rising behind autumnal trees, while the opposite side features a similarly seasonal slice of the Arts Quad and Goldwin Smith. “Cornellians love seeing the buses, taking photos of them, and recognizing some of the buildings,” Meade says. “As soon as people see it, they know it’s the Cornell Campus-to-Campus Bus.” Gallery on Wheels: A Sampling of C2C Designs Illustrations by Matt Fondeur, who also photographed the Botanic Gardens (seventh from top); all other photos by Jason Koski. The Tech campus and Queensboro Bridge (top) and the Ag Quad. Weill Cornell Medicine (top) and Weill Hall seen through Minns Garden. A Tech space (top) and the Law Library. The Botanic Gardens (top) and Manhattan and the East River as viewed from Roosevelt Island. The Brooklyn Bridge (top) and Bailey Hall. Top: The latest wrap design is applied. Published June 30, 2026 Comments Michelle Courtney Berry, Class of 1992 12 Jul, 2026 This is really cool! I am a big fan of C2C. Nothing beats riding in a clean space w non-stop WiFi and fast delivery to meetings or friends/fam in NYC. One top memory was taking my fam in the summer to see shows on Broadway. Reply SUSANNE MARIE BRUYERE 12 Jul, 2026 These enhanced scenic “wraps” are beautiful and a fitting tribute to the beautify of our urban and rural campuses and the ties between! Reply Arthur M. Phillips, III, Class of 1946 12 Jul, 2026 What is the cost for a one-way or round trip ticket? If you are a Cornell grad but otherwise unaffiliated to the university are you eligible for the discounted rate? Art Phillips ’69 Reply Arthur Ray, Class of 1974 15 Jul, 2026 Back in the day(72-74) this would have been fabulous. As it were, to fly home to Arizona I’d hitch a ride to either NYC, Boston and once to Chicago (had to be flexible to not miss mid term or final exams). Reply Jill M, Class of 1988 16 Jul, 2026 Beautiful! Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Bear Hugs Alum Thanks His Chemistry Professor—40 Years Later Alumni Cheesecake Mogul Alan Rosen ’91 Oversees a Comfort-Food Empire Alumni Crossword Legend Is Still Puzzling