STARKVILLE — Organizers trying to revive a transit system between Mississippi State University and the city of Starkville have championed community involvement as the crux of the project.
The system, spearheaded by MSU as an alternative to building more parking lots on campus, will be mostly funded through a Mississippi Department of Transportation public-transit grant. MSU will apply for the grant before March 2012. Grants will be awarded by the summer.
MSU and the city hope to have the system’s three routes and designated pickup shelters operational by January 2013. Grant renewal each year hinges on community ridership, one of the key components of the grant.
Rather than having scheduled stops, each bus will be outfitted with a real-time GPS system that will allow riders to determine the location of every bus and when a bus is expected at any stop.
Thursday, roughly 20 residents offered suggestions and inquired about broad and individual aspects of the system during a public meeting at the community center on Gillespie Street.
One resident inquired about Americans with Disabilities Act access, which is not available on every bus. Riders will be able to use the online tracking system to determine which busses are ADA compliant.
Another resident suggested having a transit system without published times for each stop, instead of relying on real-time tracking between the planned service hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
“Not all of us have smartphones or know how to use the Internet,” Starkville resident Alvin Turner said.
Mike Harris, director of parking and transportation at MSU, noted that each bus on each route will take 20-25 minutes — depending on traffic — to make it back to a stop. He also noted that a board with real-time updates of arrival times will be located in each bus shelter.
Harris presented detailed maps of each of the three routes that will run through the city Monday through Saturday. The system will run year round, except for when the university is closed. The routes are:
- The City/Campus express will begin at the MSU book store, stop midway through the Cotton District and have another pull-off next to the old Starkville Electric Department building at the end of Main Street. Harris also proposed a stop near First Presbyterian Church on University Drive.
- The Lynn Lane/Sportsplex route will leave the sportsplex, make stops along Lynn Lane before traveling down Montgomery Street and Lincoln Green Street before circling through the shuttle hub near the Colvard Student Union. The sportsplex will serve as a “park and ride” facility.
- The major route, unlike the other two, will have two buses traveling in opposite directions in a circle along some of the city’s public housing and shopping areas. The route will include stops at Brickfire Project, OCH Regional Medical Center, Reed Road, Walmart and Piggly Wiggly.
“We’ve got a lot of high-density residential areas,” said Bill Broyles, assistant vice president of student affairs, “and we want to service those areas instead of all those cars getting on the road. These routes are located near spots for shopping, banking, city services, health care and public housing.”
Organizers said the shelters and designated stop points should help the system outlast the previous system that failed five years ago. Then, the transit system was a “flag-and-ride” style where residents could board a shuttle anywhere along a route.
“One of the pitfalls we had in the first go around is people didn’t know where to go to get on the bus,” Harris said. “At this point, we want fixed shuttle stops. It gives a sense of permanence to the route. It’s something that’s gonna be there for long haul.”
Harris said the system will be free for the first year, after which they’ll explore daily rates and monthly passes.
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