Shuttle shifts to offcampus route for fee
The GCSU Parking & Transportation Services department began providing shuttle service to the Milledgeville Mall and the WalMart plaza on May 12, which ran during the weekends for Maymester and Summer I & II terms. Beginning this fall the program will continue with expansion possible based on demand.
The route will initiate from the Village Market on West Campus through the residence halls along Greene Street and then depart MSU to WalMart, the Mall, then back to West Campus and rejoin the standard weekend route to Central Campus.
“There has been a request for this service before and we even ran the route for two weeks back in 2004,” said Darryl Richardson, Transportation Services Coordinator for GCSU.
Over the past couple of years other University System of Georgia schools have been requesting that their shuttles be able to take students to shopping venues out of a sense of responsibility to those students who do not have cars. But it was learned that the insurance at that time did not allow for such routes to be run. This reason coupled with the increasing gas prices and the value of mass transit have caused the USG Board of Regents to reevaluate the insurance criteria which was reworked to allow schools the option of offering this service within certain guidelines.
The International Education Center was the initial catalyst to get this service going again here at GCSU. Libby Davis, Associate Director of International Education, was very pleased when she found out the Parking & Transportation Services department would begin service this summer.
“A lot of our international students cannot get driver’s licenses and cabs can get expensive, this service will be fantastic for all the students but I know the international folks are really looking forward to it starting.”
The new service was not accounted for in the budget and since there are folks who will not need to use it, a decision was made to make it a fee-for-use service. Individuals may pre-purchase Ride Cards which offer a set number of boardings based on the amount purchased.
Each time you board the Shopping Shuttle you must present your Ride Card to be punched. A trip to shop at WalMart or the Mall and return will cost you two punches while a trip to visit both shopping centers will require three punches. Currently the cards will sell in blocks of 24 Rides / $20, 16 Rides / $15, and 8 Rides / $10. Based on buying the 24 ride option a round trip ticket to shop at both centers costs you only $2.50, less than a gallon of gas and twice as cheap as a cab. When asked why the program was starting in the summer.
“We know the numbers of riders will be low over the summer, but it gives us a good chance to work out any scheduling kinks before we fully integrate it into our fall schedule.” replied Greg Brown, Manager of Parking & Transportation Services. The hope is for the service to be available in the evenings during the regular terms.
Departure schedules for the Shopping Shuttle are located on the Transportation web site under Favorite Links within MyCats and at the shuttle stops at the Village Market and MSU.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Aug 3 2007. Filed under News.
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