Purdue News
Purdue News
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June 1, 1999
Purdue hops on the bus to ease traffic, parking, housingWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University and CityBus of Greater Lafayette today (Tuesday, 6/1) announced a major expansion of the bus service for the campus area beginning this fall semester to relieve traffic congestion and anticipated enrollment growth.The new plan includes:
Purdue will contribute almost $802,000 for the first year of the expanded service, and CityBus will allocate $335,000 of its federal capital funds. The service will be free for at least the first year. Purdue administrators approached CityBus with the idea last fall when they foresaw construction-congested roadways and an increase in enrollment, said Kenneth P. Burns, Purdue executive vice president and treasurer. "As West Lafayette redesigns its Levee area, adds an off-ramp to the Harrison Bridge and reconstructs the State Street intersection with River Road, traffic already has become a challenge," Burns said. "In addition, the university expects its enrollment will increase by another 400 students for the fall 1999 semester, bringing the number of students to a record-high 37,300. That growth will further tax the roadways, as well as near-campus parking and housing. "This enhanced bus service is designed to offset those problems. " West Lafayette Mayor Sonya Margerum said: "This new campus bus service can significantly ease traffic and parking pressures. I would like to commend Purdue for making this service available and encourage not only students but the entire Purdue community to take advantage of it." The new service also will make it easier for students to live farther from campus, said Lafayette Mayor Dave Heath, and in that way relieve pressure on housing closer to Purdue. CityBus serves all of Lafayette, West Lafayette and Purdue, and extends into Tippecanoe County, reaching places such as Tippecanoe Mall, Klondike Road, and Indiana 26 and I-65. The Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corp. board, appointed by elected officials of both cities, oversees CityBus, which has a total budget of $5 million with approximately one-third of the funds provided by local taxes. The CityBus board approved the agreement at its May meeting. The Purdue Board of Trustees will vote on it at its July 9 meeting. "This is a cooperative agreement," said Marty Sennett, CityBus general manager. "Purdue is contributing to the cost of operating the service, and CityBus helped secure federal funding. It should allow us to double or triple ridership or more over the next two or three years." Although new to Greater Lafayette, a university's partnership with a municipal bus service is a model followed in many places. "There are numerous examples, including the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ohio State University, and the Univerity of Wisconsin," Sennett said. The changes will take effect Aug. 23, the day classes begin for the fall semester. The Ross-Ade Stadium north parking lot will serve as the park-and-ride lot, with a shuttle service every 10 minutes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Most of the 900 spaces there will be available to holders of A, B or C parking permits. Those spaces previously were free, and about 300 to 400 were used daily, primarily by freshmen, said Donna Kemper, parking facilities manager at Purdue. Most upperclassmen generally do not use the Ross-Ade lot and instead buy parking permits that allow them to park in residence hall garage and lots. Those permits are awarded based on demand and the number of years a student has lived in the residence hall system. Incoming freshmen are being notified that there will be no university spaces provided for their cars, and they are being encouraged to leave their cars at home and take advantage of the bus service. A new route, the Bronze Loop, will be added to serve the area bounded by Union, Ninth, Brown and Fourth streets as well as the campus. The Gold Loop will be expanded to include the Purdue Village (formerly known as Married Student Housing). Although service frequency and times vary for each route, buses generally run Mondays through Saturdays from 6 a.m. to as late as 11 p.m. The service is more limited on Sundays. However, the Black Loop, which will serve the campus and housing areas as well as the Chauncey Hill and Levee commercial areas, will have more extensive hours, running until 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday and midnight for the rest of the week. More buses will be added to handle the increased ridership. Several of the buses will offer bike racks and will be specially equipped to accommodate people with disabilities. Four near-campus shelters will be erected: at University and Third streets; the Ross-Ade lot; on Northwestern Avenue at the pullout near the Electrical Engineering Building; and near the Purdue Police Department at Intramural Drive and State Street. Students, faculty and staff will need only show their Purdue identification cards to ride. Although the service will be free for the next academic year, Purdue may follow the lead of most Big Ten schools with a bus service and add a modest charge to student fees to cover costs in the future, Burns said. Beyond easing parking, traffic and housing congestion, the new service will benefit the campus community in several other ways. "This makes higher education more affordable because students won't need a car," Burns said. "It will make the campus friendlier to pedestrians and safer for travelers. Riders will appreciate the convenience of being dropped off in front near their classes rather than idling in a car waiting for a parking space to open up. "It's also a better solution than building more parking garages, both from the aesthetic and land-use points of view."
Sources: Kenneth P. Burns, (765) 494-9705 Marty Sennett, (765) 423-2666 Sonya Margerum, (765) 775-5100 Dave Heath, (765) 476-4501 Writer: Jeanne Norberg, (765) 494-2096; jeanne_norberg@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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