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The Red and Black • Wednesday, November 7. 1990 • 3
Bus overcrowding attracts oversight
By RICHARD BAMBARGER
Campus Correspondent
Improvements in University Campus
Transit will come none too soon for riders tired
of crowded buses.
The system carries about 25 passengers per
mile, said Bus Operations Manager Ron
Hamlin. The industry standard is two or three
passengers per mile.
MARTA, Georgia’s largest bus system, car
ries only about 10 passengers per mile, Hamlin
said.
The University buses become overcrowded
for about 15 minutes every 50 minutes, when
students are changing classes, Hamlin said. At
these times, the buses carry 70 to 80 passen
gers, which is 40 percent over their capacity of
46 passengers.
The Georgia Department of Public Safety
recommends carrying no more than 20 percent
over capacity for safety, said the department s
Lieutenant Dale Brown. But there is no law
regulating capacity.
■ Meanwhile, riders are getting fed up.
Roberto Quan, n freshman marketing major,
said, “The buses need another deck or some
thing so that we can hold onto the outside.”
Such complaints caused Hamlin to look at
several alternatives to alleviate the crowding
problem. Proposals include repairing and re
placing buses, assigning more buses to high-ac-
tivity areas and possibly redesigning the bus
routes.
Campus Transit has 32 buses, 24 of which
are used from 7 a m. until 3 p.m. weekdays. The
others are in repair or in service as special
charters. Assigning more of these unused buses
to heavy traffic areas is an option.
Hamlin still is trying to find out which areas
attract the most riders. The area between Me
morial Hall and the Tate Student Center where
all the buses stop is probably the busiest.
The same routes have been in place since the
system was established in the late 1960s. The
routes nave been added to, but they haven’t
been altered to accommodate possible shifts in
ridership.
However, adding a large number of buses
during peak hours isn’t on Hamlin’s list of solu
tions.
“It* just not practical to run hundreds of
buses at those times,” he said.
To gather more information about the
problem, Bus Operations installed electronic
counters on the buses spring quarter to gauge
volume of riders.
Hamlin won’t decide on a solution until he
has completely defined the problem, he said
“But I don’t want people to get the idea that I
don’t know there’s a problem,” he said.
Campus Transit pockets picked by fuel costs
By MARK C. KELLY
Contributing Writer
Fuel cost increases due to the
Middle East conflict won’t affect
transportation fees charged to stu
dents or cut the amount of services
offered by Campus Transit or the
Athens Transit System, transit of
ficials said.
“We do not anticipate an in
crease in student fees because of
this,” said George Stafford, man
ager of auxiliary services. “Nor do
we plan to cut services to the stu
dents.”
The University now spends $642
a day on fuel — an average of 600
gallons — a figure which is up from
$414 a day in May.
Campus Transit will find other
ways to cut back and compensate,
Stafford said.
‘The first area we will cut from
is our one new bus we buy each
year,” he said.
A new bus costs around $165,-
000, so auxiliary services has some
room to maneuver financially, he
said.
‘We’ll get lean and mean on our
costs. Leaner than we already have
to, but I don’t expect any prob
lems,” Stafford said.
It is too early to tell if the Uni
versity will go over its transporta
tion budget for the school year,
especially with fuel costs unstable
l>ics«‘l Fuel Costs. Statowido
June
July
August September October
in world markets.
“If we went over, I don’t think we
would be able to ask the Univeristy
for funding,” Stafford said “We are
an auxiliary unit of the University
and are self-supported. Unless the
price goes to $5 a gallon, I don’t see
any real problems.”
The higer prices have caused a
strain in the budget, but it isn’t a
huge setback, he said.
“Right now, the increase will
only cost us $50,000 over the
course of the year,” Stafford said.
However, Stafford can’t say
whether continued high prices
would affect next year’s budget be
cause the University won’t com-
until
P L
February or March.
Tim Lett, ATS director, said cost
increases won’t be passed on to stu
dents.
We have a contract with the
University to provide free service
to the students,” Lett said. ‘We
plan to abide by that contract."
The University pays $2.50 per
student per quarter to ATS from
students’ transportation fees. Stu
dents, in return, can ride the buses
without paying again.
If ATS goes over budget ns a re
sult of tensions in the gulf region,
ATS officials will submit a proposal
to the Athens City Council for more
funding.
ATS hasn’t gone over budget yet
because officials budgeted for
diesel costs at 90 cents a gallon.
ATS is paying 90 cents a gallon
for diesel but were paying 78 cents
a gallon at the beginning of the
fiscal year. ATS now spends $595 a
day on fuel — an average of 550
gallons. That figure is up from
$429 a day in July.
Both transit systems indicated
that a cut in transit services with
fuel costs on the rise wouldn’t be
logical at this time.
Stafford said, “Mass transit is a
way of saving fuel. If we cut the
number of buses, then more gas
would be used because more stu
dents would be driving their cars."
Lett said there are no plans to
cut any services on the ATS lines.
“It is costing more now than
other months, but we don’t need to
push the panic button now,” he
said. “In July, we were paying 78
cents a gallon for diesel fuel. For
September, we paid 92 cents.”
Pack ’em in
Chrla Rank/lfw Reel .i'.j !i\i
Students cram themselves onto a University Campus Transit bus rt>
cently. Officials are looking into the problem of bus overcrowding at
peak use hours. Information from electronic people counters will be
used to evaluate bus service and possible remedies.
Dependable driver balances tasks
By JUDITH GUTHRIE
Contributing Writer
Brent Cole, one of the Univer
sity’s bus drivers, has learned to
ride the fine line between school
and work by having a laid-back at
titude and a variety of interests.
“It’ll be all right,” has become a
favorite phrase of the senior agri
cultural engineering m^jor.
Cole balances school and work
with outside interests.
“I’m a percussionist and play all
of the instruments, which includes
all the drums,” he said.
He began studying music when
he was 10 and has been in several
bands. He also likes to hunt and
fish along the Florida coast.
“I enjoy the early morning hours
of quietness and solitude the woods
have to offer,” he said.
Family is important to Cole, who
has a twin brother, Brad.
“When I go home to Stockbridge
I fill up on Mama’s cooking,” he
said. “Biscuits and cream gravy are
my favorite.”
Cole first learned to drive when
he drove feed and grain trucks on
the family farm. On weekends Cole
sometimes drives loaders for a con
struction company.
This experience gave him the
ability to maneuver the Univer
sity’s 40-foot buses around the
narrow roads and tight turns that
wind throughout the campus.
“Cole is a good ol’ boy who is
quiet, polite, hard-working and de
pendable,” said Bob Terrell, one of
Cole’s bus supervisors.
Cole said a sense of responsibi
lity and friendliness teamed with a
sincere enjoyment of driving are
necessary qualifications for a
sucessful bus driver.
Engineering Professor James Al-
liston said Cole has those qualities.
“Cole is sincere and wants to do
well and has the determination to
follow through with his priorities,”
Alliston said. “He is fun-loving and
a great guy who has put his educa
tion first and sacrificed hours of
pleasure for hours of study."
Cole’s advice to students is,
“Keep on studying, hang in there
and never quit. It’ll be all right.”
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