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One reason I love it here at the University of Maine, though it may seem like a small one, is the BAT. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this program. A flash of my student ID takes me to any destination in the Bangor area, 100 percent free of charge.
I’m lucky enough to have a vehicle, but that doesn’t mean I don’t take advantage of this program. Taking the bus to school on days when my schedule permits gives me the chance to do some homework on the bus. The commute is so much less stressful than trying to drive through the traffic jam on the bridge over the Stillwater between the hours of 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
The fact that I can use public transportation in a town of 10,000 people is fantastic in and of itself. Doing so for free is even more fantastic. When I was growing up in Philadelphia, the school system wouldn’t even pay to transport its students past the sixth grade; in Maine, our school system will get us where we need to go all the way through graduate school.
This program is great because it enables students at UMaine to live and work off campus. This campus can feel isolated sometimes, and any effort to get students off campus offers opportunities to enrich their college experience as well as our community as a whole.
If you have taken a ride on the bus recently, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s gotten a bit more crowded. According to the Bangor Area Transit Superintendent Joe McNiel, the Veazie-Orono-Old Town line which serves UMaine has shown the highest growth in ridership. Last year alone saw more than a 19-percent increase. Because of consistent increases over the past 10 years, a study of the public transportation system is underway to reevaluate services to better suit growing demand.
One of the campaign platforms of president-elect Priyanth Chandrasekar was a promise to work towards adding to our bus service, and I’d like to think the large margin that voted for him did so because this is what they want. Students love taking the bus – especially for free – but they need better service. I don’t know about you, but most of my friends’ schedules extend past 6 p.m.
Superintendent McNiel said that the BAT is considering increasing service to UMaine by offering later and more frequent service, but this will only be possible if the university and the towns of Orono, Old Town and Veazie are willing to commit more funding. While the fares collected on the BAT offer higher-than-average support when compared to other public transportation systems, they still only cover 30 percent of the bill. Municipalities support the rest with taxes, and as a bus rider I cannot express what a good investment this would be
In the past month, the Orono Town Council has been discussing the safety issue of too many tenants’ cars parked along streets and in driveways. Cars are unsightly, cause pollution and, most significantly, can restrict emergency vehicles’ access. One of the solutions proposed for this concern is to limit the number of tenants living in an apartment unit. A better solution would involve working with the university and the BAT Community Connector service so that more students are using public transportation instead of owning cars.
From the university’s perspective, providing more comprehensive access to public transportation is appealing to prospective students who want to shop, eat out and visit cultural attractions in the surrounding communities of Old Town, Orono and Bangor, but they might not have the resources to bring a vehicle to campus. Our campus ridership program is already a great way to market our university. Improving that program has the potential to dramatically increase our appeal to students. You might say getting students off campus is the best way to get more students on it.
Pattie Barry got on the bus to go to work in Philly and ended up in Bangor.
