Student government works with SMTD on prosposed bus service changes

Ocotober 01, 2008
Peter Nickeas
Public Affairs Reporter

The Student Government Association will be measuring student interest for expanded public bus service in the coming months, according to Director of Student Life Cynthia Thompson.

SGA formed a committee on transportation to explore the matter, which will administer a survey in the coming months. The results will be used to determine if expansion will be pursued.

Discussions between the Springfield Mass Transit District and SGA first started in August when SGA members Steven Black and Bret Tate approached SMTD about expanding bus service to the UIS campus.  
Following the initial meeting, the SGA formed a transportation committee. They hope to have a survey completed before the Oct. 12 meeting. If the survey is approved it will be available electronically for students to complete.  

The transportation committee had input from SMTD, who provided guidance with wording and direction of the questions, Thompson said.
In an effort to address needs in the short term, SGA also discussed altering the current service route to more accurately reflect the needs of students. Placement of the current bus stops occurred prior to recent campus expansion.

Bus stop placement changes could be in effect as soon as January, when the SMTD prints their route schedules, according to Thompson.
SMTD Managing Director Linda Tisdale outlined the importance of the survey information in moving forward with any possible expansion.

“What we'd need to know is what locations they'd be interested in traveling to from the campus and what times of day they'd be interested,” said SMTD Managing Director Linda Tisdale. “I'm assuming they'd be interested in something in the evening.”

Similar steps were taken several years ago by SMTD to measure student interest in expanded service but according to Cynthia Thompson, the forums hosted by SMTD were poorly attended and input was scant.
If survey results favor additional service, and SMTD and UIS can agree on fees and service, the matter would likely be voted on as a referendum.
The whole process would take at least a year, according to Thompson, who strongly emphasized the preliminary nature of the discussions.

SMTD's board of trustees would also need to approve any expansion or alteration of current routes at UIS.

“The board has to approve service changes when they're major,” Tisdale said. “Substantial service changes, the board has to approve, and that's because a budget has to go with that.

Tisdale also noted that day service to the UIS campus will not be expanded.

“During the day … we don't have enough vehicles, but at night we have some flexibility,” Tisdale said.

Tisdale wasn't able to say how soon service could be implemented, which would be contingent upon funding, but noted that SMTD would be well prepared because they'd have the survey results well in advance of funding approval.

“Once there's funding in place, the survey would certainly have time to happen before then, we would have that information well in advance so we could try to plan some service,” Tisdale said.

Briefs:

New senators and current officers will be formally inaugurated at the Oct. 4 homecoming soccer game during halftime, during which they will take the oath of office.

Currently, the Peoria Center Senator and the College of Education and Human Services Senator positions are vacant. “There is only an education minor, so it can be very difficult to fill that position,” Rook said, also noting the distance of the Peoria center making the position particularly difficult to fill. Positions not filled will remain vacant but Rook hopes to have them filled by the end of the semester via appointment.

In order to address accessibility concerns, the SGA plans on opening a “mobile office.” The SGA offices are often open long after the Student Life Center closes, rendering office hours after the SLC close ineffective. SGA is currently looking into location options, and Rook hopes to have the office location set before the end of the month.