Members of the Athens Transit Task Force attended a conference last week at Michigan State University to see how one university and city unified their transit systems to make travel more convenient for students and residents.
The task force was created almost two years ago to research and implement a plan that would unite the five major transit systems running in Athens.
We got to talk to people who went through the process (of creating a unified transit system)
people who are where we are and people just thinking about restructuring their transit systems, said Athens City Councilwoman Carol Patterson, D-at large, who chairs the task force.
The unified transit system could bring together Ohio University's Campus Area Transportation System, city transit, private cab companies and buses from University Commons and University Courtyard. Students with an OU ID card will be able to use the service for free but will face an additional fee on their quarterly bills. Patterson said the amount of the fee would depend on the amount of state and federal grant money that can be secured for the project.
Students can buy a bus pass for University Courtyard for $50 a quarter or pay $1 a ride. Only University Commons' residents can ride that apartment complex's bus service. The Campus Area Transportation System is free from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, according to the OU Web site.
A new transit system for OU and the Athens community could be in operation by next September, Patterson said.
We're much further in many ways than we thought we were
she said.
Unified transit systems in other college towns have helped to make transportation more convenient for students by decreasing the overlap of routes and more efficiently using vehicles to allow for more frequent pick-ups, said Sherry Barnes, director of Transportation Services for OU and a university representative on the task force.
I want to ensure that
in addition to our students
our guests and visitors to the university have convenient transportation
Barnes said. It's better for the user
and it does save money in the long run.
Miami University combined its transit system with Oxford's system 16 years ago to create eight routes that take students to classes, apartments and businesses, said Miami Metro manager Lisa Harrison.
OU administrators have visited Oxford in the past to study Miami's bus system, which serves 44,000 to 60,000 students per week, Harrison said, adding that the key to creating a successful transit system is mapping out popular locations to best serve students.
We go basically to the outskirts of Oxford to where demographics indicate students live ... and then we get them to campus
she said.
Under the proposed transit plan, buses in Athens would take OU students to the city limits of East State Street, to campus and to apartment complexes off-campus, covering ten times the ground currently covered by university transit, Patterson said.
Another key issue for transit systems is funding, said Fred Smith of Bowling Green State University's shuttle service.
BGSU transit services are used by students almost 500,000 times each year and are funded with money the university parking services gets from parking passes, meters and tickets.
The transit systems running in Athens County cost more than $1 million per year, Barnes said, adding that 80 percent of this is funded by the state and federal government.
One concern of the task force is students simply don't know about the transit systems. The lack of available information is mostly because of bad marketing, Patterson said.
Athens' contract with its current transit provider will expire before the new transit plan is implemented, Patterson said, explaining that a California transit company is currently in charge of marketing.
OU will market its new transit system to students in Precollege through videos and live speakers as part of its new marketing plan, she said.
Once students get used to mass transit services, such as buses, they realize how convenient it is, Harrison said. Most Miami students love the buses because they run every ten to twelve minutes during peak hours, she said.
OU and Athens are making major headway on the new transit plan because of a willingness to work together, Barnes said, adding that more students and community members are being consulted by the task force.
We've got the university and the city talking about a partnership
and that's huge
Patterson said.
