City looks for student input on buses

By Mike Bontrager

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Public Transit Advisory Committee is looking for student input on coordinating the Lawrence Transit system and KU on Wheels. The committee will hold an open meeting from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. today in the Courtside room in the Burge Union for students to voice concerns and give suggestions on how the bus system could better serve them.

Since the sales tax passed last year, said Casey Toomay, budget manager and interim transit administrator, the city has promised to work to coordinate the Lawrence Transit system with KU on Wheels to better serve the community. The city hired Olsson Associates this year to coordinate route and schedule design.

Tom Braddock, assistant transportation planner with Olsson Associates, will attend the meeting today to listen to student feedback.

“Students are full stakeholders in this process,” Braddock said.

The city has already planned some changes for the transit system. Braddock said small changes such as adding needed routes and eliminating inefficient routes would take place in March.

Major changes such as adding more stops around town and increasing bus frequency will take place at the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester.

A recent survey of 111 Lawrence residents ranked the priorities of coordinating the transit system. The top three areas were efficient service, frequent service and accessibility.

Matthew Gagnon, Hutchinson senior, said his main concern with the bus system was the amount of empty buses he saw around campus.

“I just saw the visitor bus go by and I wondered, ‘How many times does that get filled?’ you know,’” Gagnon said. “Is that really a necessary bus?”

Gagnon said he was satisfied with the bus system overall, especially compared to the time he spent in Chicago where it could take 45 minutes to board a bus.

Luke Tuner, Topeka senior, uses the Park and Ride system. He said he had problems with full buses but said the frequency of buses made it manageable.

Efficiency and accessibility are the main concerns for Andrew Rossell, Lansing freshman.

Rossell suggested having free movies on buses as an improvement.

Gina Herrera, Dallas junior, said she was concerned about the amount of pollution the buses produced, but she said the buses might actually be helping to cut down emissions.

“It’s a lot better than people driving on campus in their individual cars,” Herrera said.

Toomay said cutting down on environmental damage and becoming more economically efficient were vital to making an effective transit system for Lawrence.

Braddock said more than 30 meetings with different community groups were scheduled this week to gain perspective on what people wanted in a transit system.

Toomay stressed the importance of feedback from students and others who used the bus system.

She said it was also important to hear from non-riders because the goal of the project was to entice more people to use the bus system.

— — Edited by Brandy Entsminger

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