2008 Woodie Awards
A downtown shuttle really does make sense
By: GUEST COLUMNIST
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: Forum
Parking and Traffic finally got me. They tallied up all the parking tickets since October 2006 and sent me a bill and a due date: $310, March 20.
It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't parked in the Jerome lot during that particularly bad-weather, the third week of February.
Three $50 tickets for the Class One offense "Failure to Register."
Yeah, I'm not registered. But I think I've got a good reason.
Hear me out!
I'm a townie and I live downtown. That's a stereotype many of us fit into.
As with many other commuter students, I like to walk or bike to class. It was great. The weather was nice, the sun was out, and walking with that cup of that Circle K coffee just made me think, "H-ell yeah, goin' to class!"
But you know, the weather gets crappy, and lot more people start driving, clogging the lots and spending their money on those always up-and-up gas prices.
I never bought a parking pass for two reasons.
1. I didn't want to drop the $40 at the time (admittedly, now a wiser investment).
2. Given the location of the commuter lots (check the campus map) - all horribly inconvenient places coming from the downtown area, rendering them almost useless - you still have to walk in the very bitter, windy and often wet weather of late fall and most of spring semester.
Anyway, I was pissed, of course. I never wholly believed there'd be no penalty but it just took so long. I wonder if they keep a star list of the most egregious offenders.
I'm appealing those tickets. I doubt I'll win, but that prompted me to try to change the structure of the shuttle to accommodate those who wish to get to campus (dry and warm) from downtown and vice-versa without driving your money and gas guzzler.
I started talking to the Undergraduate Student Government about it, mapped out the north shuttle route on Google and started looking at ways to accommodate the downtown.
If we pass this referendum over elections this week, it will basically be a two-tiered change.
First, beginning this fall there will be a reworking of the north shuttle route, which is under-utilized and much more inefficient than the south route.
From 2006-07 records of shuttle use, there are three stops that are hardly used at all. They are located within a four to five block range on Enterprise Street between Leroy and Ridge streets, with the biggest stop only accommodating 162 passengers all last year.
Working with the city and police, we wish to condense the three Enterprise Street stops and add one that comes as close to the intersection of Main and Wooster streets as possible.
The second tier of this initiative would be the later creation of a solo downtown-to-campus route, providing safe and reliable travel between both places. To do this, USG has surveyed students and found that to fund this change, "no more than" a $20 hike in general student fees seemed acceptable. As you know my history, that sounds fair.
Growing up here, I've learned some valuable things.
The University is great. It is an educational and cultural lifeline that is integral to the community's future (just look at all the other Wood County towns, some much older and ghostly, that didn't get a college).
But the University is also a merciless bureaucracy that will squeeze you for every cent, as I often feel that we can be more of hefty-paying "consumers" than "students."
You know, it's easy for us students to point the finger at the man when it's not truly their fault. If you're opposed for whatever reason that's fine, this isn't for you. This is for the students who would like the idea but probably won't vote for a variety of reasons laced with ignorance and apathy.
Think of the possible economic benefits to downtown businesses. Think of the convenience and comfort for students. Also think about where the "action" is to our student demographic here, where the events and places are that you enjoy attending. It's half-fair to generalize that much of it revolves in and around campus and the downtown.
If you want to have some skeleton-semblance of a public transportation system - to be able to hop between the two spots quick - or if you just want a "drunk bus" to eventually take you closer home after the bars, then vote for this referendum.
There's been talk about this since long before I cared, let's just get it done.
Quentin Kilpatrick is a sophomore majoring in sociology.
It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't parked in the Jerome lot during that particularly bad-weather, the third week of February.
Three $50 tickets for the Class One offense "Failure to Register."
Yeah, I'm not registered. But I think I've got a good reason.
Hear me out!
I'm a townie and I live downtown. That's a stereotype many of us fit into.
As with many other commuter students, I like to walk or bike to class. It was great. The weather was nice, the sun was out, and walking with that cup of that Circle K coffee just made me think, "H-ell yeah, goin' to class!"
But you know, the weather gets crappy, and lot more people start driving, clogging the lots and spending their money on those always up-and-up gas prices.
I never bought a parking pass for two reasons.
1. I didn't want to drop the $40 at the time (admittedly, now a wiser investment).
2. Given the location of the commuter lots (check the campus map) - all horribly inconvenient places coming from the downtown area, rendering them almost useless - you still have to walk in the very bitter, windy and often wet weather of late fall and most of spring semester.
Anyway, I was pissed, of course. I never wholly believed there'd be no penalty but it just took so long. I wonder if they keep a star list of the most egregious offenders.
I'm appealing those tickets. I doubt I'll win, but that prompted me to try to change the structure of the shuttle to accommodate those who wish to get to campus (dry and warm) from downtown and vice-versa without driving your money and gas guzzler.
I started talking to the Undergraduate Student Government about it, mapped out the north shuttle route on Google and started looking at ways to accommodate the downtown.
If we pass this referendum over elections this week, it will basically be a two-tiered change.
First, beginning this fall there will be a reworking of the north shuttle route, which is under-utilized and much more inefficient than the south route.
From 2006-07 records of shuttle use, there are three stops that are hardly used at all. They are located within a four to five block range on Enterprise Street between Leroy and Ridge streets, with the biggest stop only accommodating 162 passengers all last year.
Working with the city and police, we wish to condense the three Enterprise Street stops and add one that comes as close to the intersection of Main and Wooster streets as possible.
The second tier of this initiative would be the later creation of a solo downtown-to-campus route, providing safe and reliable travel between both places. To do this, USG has surveyed students and found that to fund this change, "no more than" a $20 hike in general student fees seemed acceptable. As you know my history, that sounds fair.
Growing up here, I've learned some valuable things.
The University is great. It is an educational and cultural lifeline that is integral to the community's future (just look at all the other Wood County towns, some much older and ghostly, that didn't get a college).
But the University is also a merciless bureaucracy that will squeeze you for every cent, as I often feel that we can be more of hefty-paying "consumers" than "students."
You know, it's easy for us students to point the finger at the man when it's not truly their fault. If you're opposed for whatever reason that's fine, this isn't for you. This is for the students who would like the idea but probably won't vote for a variety of reasons laced with ignorance and apathy.
Think of the possible economic benefits to downtown businesses. Think of the convenience and comfort for students. Also think about where the "action" is to our student demographic here, where the events and places are that you enjoy attending. It's half-fair to generalize that much of it revolves in and around campus and the downtown.
If you want to have some skeleton-semblance of a public transportation system - to be able to hop between the two spots quick - or if you just want a "drunk bus" to eventually take you closer home after the bars, then vote for this referendum.
There's been talk about this since long before I cared, let's just get it done.
Quentin Kilpatrick is a sophomore majoring in sociology.
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