University Housing expanded the delivery area for the campus dining hall Starship robots — students can now order food from new locations around campus.
The delivery service, which was first implemented on campus last November, originally allowed students to purchase dining hall food with a credit or debit card and get it delivered to certain locations, according to a University of Wisconsin news release.
The robots, which utilize self-driving technology, will now cater to parts of the southeast neighborhood. The new area that UW Housing added stretches from Park St. to Lake St. and from Lake Mendota to just south of Dayton St. The robots now deliver to campus buildings like Sellery, Witte and Ogg residence halls and also Library Mall.
In addition, the delivery service will now accept Wiscard as a payment method, which allows students to get discounted residence pricing on their deliveries and pay using their university meal plans.
Rheta’s Market to change dining style from à la carte to all-you-care-to-eat
Director of Marketing and Communications for University Housing Brendon Dybdahl said in an email that the existing 30 robots from the original implementation of Starship Delivery have been redistributed to reach these new areas.
Dybdahl said he hopes the addition of Wiscard payment, which was a top student request, will help the use of the service on campus grow even more.
“The point of the service is to add convenience and save students time by serving them where they are,” Dybdahl said. “We’re always looking at what menu items are offered in our delivery service and what other items students might be looking for.”
To use this delivery service, students can download the app on their smartphones and select their current location to see which dining halls and cafes deliver to their area. Each order has a $1.99 delivery fee.
