12C ON THE HILL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 2006
TRANSPORTATION
Buses slated for improvements
Study addresses cleanliness, pollution, accessibility and routing complaints
Kansan file photo
Using public transportation, such as the bus system at KU is a great alternative to your own set of wheels. You can buy a bus pass for either a semester or year or pay the $1 fee whenever you decide to take it.
BY TOM SLAUGHTER
The University of Kansas, in conjunction with the city of Lawrence, has hired a consulting firm to analyze and improve the city's two major bus outlets, KU on Wheels and the Lawrence Transit System.
Daniel K. Boyle, president of Dan Boyle & Associates, played host to the first of five public meetings at City Hall and a meeting at the Kansas Union in June to get a feel for how both the city and those affiliated with the University - students and faculty thought the two systems could be improved.
Peg Livingood, project manager in the department of Design & Construction Management, said that Boyle will be back in September to continue with the study. By then, she said, the University should have a better idea of the kinds of changes that can be made to KU on Wheels.
After the study is completed, the project will go through two phases, Boyle said at the meetings. The first will be the "standard transit project," intended to make the overall transit situation in the city better. The second phase will see if it would be
possible to intertwine both systems to function as one unit.
Boyle said that he was trying to gain a sense of what the most important issues were regarding both systems, but he couldn't yet tell if the public wanted to
needed. Myles, who lived at Parkway Commons, Clinton Parkway and Kasold, last year, didn't own a car at the
"When I rode the "T"I had to catch two buses to get where I needed to go."
ROBBIE MYLES
Olathe senior
integrate the systems.
integrate the systems.
Robbie Myles, Olathe senior, said that change was
time and said he experienced problems with the bus system.
"When I rode the 'T' I had to catch two buses to get where I needed to go." Myles said.
take him 30 minutes to catch a ride to campus, taking a bus from his apartment
He said that it often would
complex to SuperTarget, and then transferring to another bus to get to campus. He also said that he would have liked the buses to run later than they did.
A lack of later running times was just one of the complaints expressed at the meetings. Others included routing, accessibility for those with disabilities, timing for transfers, uncleanliness and both environmental and noise pollution.
Lawrence Settles, Shawnee senior, who attended the meeting at City Hall, said he was happy that people were trying to improve the bus systems.
"I'm an advocate for public transportation," he said.
Boyle's firm specializes in public transportation, and has completed studies in other college towns. He did one study at the University of Nevada at Reno, and will be conducting another that will serve six universities in Greensboro, N.C. The study began last week and is scheduled to end in November.
Boyle will return to Lawrence.
Kansan staff writer Tom Slaughter can be reached at tslaughter@kansan.com
—Edited by Dani Hurst
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