Stephen Willis
Staff Writer
The U plans to construct a new shuttle route that will begin at the South Campus TRAX station travel through central campus with one stop near the Union Building, and a final stop at the parking lot on the far north side of campus.
The new bus will be an electrically powered vehicle which will charge at a wireless charging station. The designers of the project estimate the bus to take 10 minutes to complete the route. The shuttle will be a full-sized bus larger than any shuttle on campus.
Charles Easton, an adviser for Project Engineering Consultants (PEC), believes the new shuttle route will benefit students.
“The project will allow the one-third of campus to the north much faster access to TRAX and other public transit along South Campus Drive,” he said.
To facilitate the new bus, Commuter Services, in partnership with PEC, will design a new road through the center of campus. Two-thirds of the new shuttle route will be constructed on preexisting roads. Currently the project is in the early stages of development, and this spring and summer an environmental review is being conducted. The environmental impact is predicted to be minimal, resulting in the loss of three or four small trees, which PEC said it will replace.
Katie Fredrickson, a senior in history, believes the new shuttle route is a good idea.
“I think that anyway for students to get through campus more quickly without having actually to drive their cars is always a beneficial thing,” she said.
The new bus path will be approximately 12 feet wide and have an adjacent eight foot sidewalk. The bus is intended to be a slow traveling vehicle. The designers intend to construct tabletop speed bumps which will operate as both a means of forcing the bus driver to reduce speed and as well serving as a crossing path for pedestrians.
Designers also planned to construct grass medians in different sections of the bus route, which will enable an additional bus to be added to the route if the project is successful. These additional medians will also perform as visual breakers to disrupt the monotony of a straight shot road through the center of campus.
The new technology of the electric bus renders the vehicle to be near silent, which poses a threat to pedestrians unaware of a bus approaching from the rear. To address this problem the design committee is proposing to install a system of chimes to alert pedestrians that a bus is approaching.
A student walking the distance of the proposed route takes roughly 20-25 minutes. Commuter Services proposes that the shuttle will be able to cut this time in half.
Heidi Moore, a senior in gender studies, believes the money can be spent in more productive ways.
“Instead of investing our money in destroying open spaces on campus, why don’t we invest it in improving our current transportation system for students to get around?” she said. “If we’re really concerned about student mobility and ability to get around campus then the first priority needs to be for people with disabilities.”
PCE’s roll in the project is to ensure that Commuter Services follows the design guidelines required for the federal funding.
“Commuter Services hired Project Engineering Consultants to complete the environmental analysis, which must be done according to federal procedures due to the likelihood that the project will use federal funds for design and construction,” Easton said.
If the proposal is accepted, construction is expected to start in the fall of 2013 and will be completed by spring 2014.
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