5
Trams Solve OUs Traffic Trouble
By DON JEFFERSON Kansan Staff Writer
NORMAN-While the University of Kansas and universities across the United States continue to bemoan campus transportation problems, the University of Oklahoma is laughing in tune to the clatter of what looks like a circus ride.
OU's transportation system, known simply as the trams, has been in service since January, 1969 and has solved what once was a severe transportation problem at OU.
An OU tram consists simply of one or two specially made open trailers drawn by a jeep. Beginning each morning at 8:30 and finishing at 5 p.m., three tram units plod across campus twice an hour carrying their classes and home again at no charge.
The trans frequently are used for evening shuttle service to exams and to the library, and for tours of the campus by special groups. On occasion they have been as speaker and band platforms, information boots and voter registration centers.
"They work well for us," he said. "We use them for about anything we want. We use them."
LEE SAVAGE, CO. OD coordinator of Special Projects and director of the tram service, is leading an effort to enhance safety for bus riders.
According to Savage, the idea of the trams originated in a special OU student government committee that was formed to help students with transportation problems. Prior to that, he said, campus transportation needs were served by about 10 Volkswagen buses which were privately owned and operated. The buses running because of lack of patronage.
ACTING ON the advice of the committee, Savage said, the OU Student Senate purposed a motion to disband Diebler Trackless Train Co. of Manhattan, Kan. Since then the tram service has been expanded. The university's physical plant has received two international Scooters purchased two International Scooters
"The guy that ran them lost a ton of money," Savage said. "He didn't figure that they'd be full about five times in the mornings and empty the rest of the time."
Oklahoma University Students Ride to Class on Tram
"I don't know whether the university felt they were necessary, but the students did," Savage said. "The trans serve a dual purpose—the they keep cars off campus and they keep the students from having to walk."
There is no charge for riding the trans, Savage said, because they are considered a student service. However, the trans serve only university operated housing.
ACCORDING to Savage, the most appealing aspect of the tram idea is its low cost. The original cost of the Debier trailers was $2,850 and the cost of the subsequently purchased trailers was $1,900. The Scout pickups cost about $2,000 at the time of their purchase.
"Right now we are in the middle of an apartment boom," he said. "Invariably, each private apartment complex has its own bus, so the drums aren't needed."
At present he said, the cost for operating the tram system is $500 a month for maintenance, $100 a month for gas and oil, $150 a year for insurance, $12,000 a year for drivers' salaries, and $9,000 a year for the administrative salary.
"The student government financeled the school's budget, but the Savage saga" put it, then it was taken over by the Department of Housing. Then the housing department decided not to finance
to $18,000 a year, the amount allotted to him this year for the tram service.
Kansan Photo by SUSAN HAYES
"Those figures are somewhat misleading,
however.  Savage said, "The ad-
dress is mine is mine, and I do other
things. If anything must be tried or done,
where I'm where they come."
Savage said that costs were kept down because insurance was purchased with the university's block policy, and the university's physical plant maintained the trans
"So we said Okay, look. You shovel up a part, we shovel up a part and the student
Savage said that another problem was the phones often got on and off the trams while they were moving.
Jan Drake, Oklahoma City sophomore who is driving a tram for the second year and who was the first female tram driver at OU, said that the only serious problem with the tram itself was that people jumped off while it was moving.
November 29, 1972
Savage said the actual costs were closer
"ALSO, some of those costs are for the periods of peak loads. The costs for maintenance, gas and oil aren't that high for the summer months."
especially bad at 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 a.m.
when the main rush occurs.
"One ROTC student in his Navy whites jumped off while it was moving and dove headfirst into a mud puddle," Savage said with a chuckle.
"The real problem was realizing that I had to slowly because it's hard to step back."
... Operating as a student service the rides are free.
The rear car also overturns sometimes,
government will give us a part' and we pulled enough money together to keep the tram running. Now the Center for Student Development, the student government and the Department of Housing each give us $6,000 a year."
Savage, who often drives the trams himself, said that he tried to hire freshmen and sophomores to drive the trams because he could keep them as drivers for several years, but that it was not hard to train new drivers.
"They don't have any more trouble driving the trams than the boys." Savage said. "The trams are easy to drive. Anyway, girls are the most stable drivers. Let's face it—girls have an affinity to be on time."
"It's kind of like working a big crossword puzzle," Savage said. "I try to fit their driving schedules into their school schedules."
A regular rider of the trams, Jim
SAVAGE SAID that he started hiring girls to drive the trams last summer and that they would be hired.
SAVAGE SAID that one of the reasons for the low cost of operating the tram was that we were employed to drive the trans. The students woke up 15 hours a week at $1.65 an hour, he said.
"They follow extremely well," he said. "Usually they ride and drive with an experienced driver for about a week. Then they're on their own."
There are several drawbacks to the trams, Sawad said. They are cold for riders in the winter and they do not run in bad weather.
"I guess three or four days is the longest we've ever taken the transm out of service." We have no street clearing equipment, we really treacherous we take them off."
ANOTHER PROBLEM, Savage said, is that students overload the trams, which are rated at 25 persons capacity but have been known to carry many more. The problem is
Savage said, when a driver misjudges the length of the tram and runs over a curb.
Johaning, Norman senior, said that he would rather ride a bus because he had been stuck in the traffic.
"What do I think of the trams?" he said.
"They're dangerous. I was on the front car so I was lucky. We went around a corner and saw it. The cars back. The back car just slowly rolled over."
"I REMEMBER one guy who got out a car rolled over and said 'Groovy ride,' a rider.
"They turn over because they have a high center of gravity," he said. "But the trams are open and they're slow. People just put their feet on and ride them over."
THE VICTIMS OF THE VICTIMATE PEOPLE
THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE
THE STATUTES OF THE PEOPLE
THE STRONGNESS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE THIRD WORLD
THE UNHONORABLE DEFENSE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE THIRD WORLD
TOPICS WILL INCLUDE:
INDOCHINA WEEK nov. 27,28,29,30
"It really scared the people in back."
FILMS WILL ALSO BE SHOWN
IN SUPPORTANCE WITH THE PURPOSE OF INDONESIA, the following student organizations present indochina week:
Organization of North American Students, Pakistan Students Association,
International Students Association, Chinese
TIT Committee, Latin American Students Association.
THE RECENT STRUGGLE OF THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE
THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF INDONIA
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