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The era of fare-free transit has arrived. As of Jan. 2, riders boarding
regularly scheduled Chapel Hill Transit buses no longer have to shell out cash,
remit coupons or display passes to board a bus.
On Jan. 8, University leaders and representatives from Chapel Hill and Carrboro
joined to mark the milestone with some fanfare of their own.
No bottle of champagne was smashed, no ribbon cut. Instead, Chancellor James
Moeser joined Student Body President Justin Young, Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy
and Carrboro Mayor Pro Tem Alex Zaffron to rip an over-sized bus pass to
shreds.
"And appropriately, Justin got the biggest piece," Moeser said. After the
ceremony, Moeser joined other officials in a fare-free ride out to The William
and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.
The route to the center is one of three new routes that the bus system has
added. Four other routes have been modified to help improve service. (See box
below for details.)
Moeser, Foy, Zaffron and Young all spoke at the ceremony, and all stressed in
their remarks how the implementation of fare-free transit was a result of
excellent cooperation between the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and the
University.
"As you can see, such a broad coalition of leaders and others keenly interested
in transit clearly illustrates vividly how this issue touches so many lives and
will be so important in the future," Moeser said. "We want to be part of a
culture in which Carolina is a pedestrian-oriented campus. We want to do all
that we can to minimize additional traffic and parking. We want to provide
decisive and strong support in our collective efforts to improve and
aggressively promote alternatives to commuting."
Foy echoed that theme.
"This is a collaborative effort," he said. "We have genuinely worked together
and the reason we worked together so well in this regard is because we have a
common vision for what the future holds for our community. And that common
vision is represented by this campus, particularly this part of campus is so
beautiful and so easy to move around in an alternative form of transportation
-- our feet."
Zaffron said the joint effort marked "a new era of cooperation in building new
coalitions to provide alternatives to transportation for the institutions that
we serve and the people that our institutions serve."
To get the fare-free program and improve service, the University more than
doubled its contribution to the transit system -- from just under $2 million
annually to slightly more than $4 million.
About $1.1 million of the increase went to pay for the fare-free service, while
$1 million went to pay for the three new routes and to take over the total cost
of existing University routes.
The University also underwrote a one-time cost of $300,000 for a local match
for new buses.
In his speech, Moeser credited students for playing a key role in spearheading
the move toward fare-free.
The additional money helped to leverage the dollars that both towns are already
providing for public transit, Moeser said.
"Such big changes do not come easily. They require coordination, cooperation,
political will and a lot of hard work," Moeser said. "This community is
fortunate to have had all those things occur to make fare-free transit
possible."
Moeser also gave special credit to students for the key role they played by
passing a referendum to increase their own fees to help pay for the change.
"Fare-free is a step in the right direction to help solve some of the
transportation problems on campus, including the parking crunch, and will lead
to improved service that riders will depend on -- riders that include faculty,
staff, students and community members alike," Young said. "It is a change in
transportation that we must all embrace."
It was Young's predecessor, Brad Matthews, who last year proposed the idea for
offering free bus rides as a means of promoting greater use of the buses.
Greater use of public transportation is one of the strategies University
officials hope to employ to reduce the use of automobiles in and around campus
and to create a campus that can be more easily walked even as the number of
people and buildings continue to grow.
University students and employees with valid 2001-02 parking permits who want
to use the new fare-free service to campus will receive a prorated refund for
their cancelled parking permits.
Along with fare-free transit, these other service improvements, which took
effect Jan. 7, have been made to Chapel Hill Transit bus routes:
New routes
* The EU route serves the law school and Institute of Government on weekdays
from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. It provides transportation along South Road,
Raleigh Street, Franklin Street, Pittsboro Street, Stadium Drive and Ridge
Road.
* The NU route serves former riders of the P route, offering service between
the P and PR lots and campus, with stops at the Horney Building, 720/730
Airport Road, UNC Hospitals, east campus residence halls and Franklin Street.
On Sundays, the NU route serves the PR lot and east campus residence halls from
4:30 to 11:30 p.m.
* The HU route serves the Friday Center area to and from campus via Fordham
Boulevard and Manning Drive, with its first stop at Chase Hall. The route also
serves UNC Hospitals and mid-campus before returning to N.C. 54 via South Road.
The HU route serves stops every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 15
minutes during the mid-day. In combination with the S route, riders can take
advantage of bus service every five minutes during peak hours and every seven
minutes during mid-day hours.
Modified routes
* The M route (Franklin Street/University Mall) now serves the Chapel
Hill Public Library in addition to its other stops.
* The V route (Southern Village/Carolina/Meadowmont) has added service to the
north side of the Friday Center.
* The A route runs a full-day, 12-hour schedule rather than just at peak hours.
* The S route no longer loops around the Carolina Inn but proceeds directly
from South Road, across McCauley Street to Pittsboro Street. All S routes pass
UNC Healthcare's Administrative Office Building before entering the N.C. 54
park and ride lot. The S route stops every 10 minutes during peak hours and
every 15 minutes during the midday. In combination with the HU route, riders
can take advantage of bus service every five minutes during peak hours and
every seven minutes during mid-day hours.
For more information about Chapel Hill Transit routes and services, see the
updated Chapel Hill Transit Guide, available on the buses, at many local
merchants and at Department of Public Safety offices. Information also is
available by calling Chapel Hill Transit at 968-2769 or visiting its web site
at www.ci.chapel-hill.nc.us/ transit/
More information also can be obtained by calling the University's Department of
Public Safety at 962-3951 or by visiting its web site at http://www.dps.unc.edu
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