Transit Authority cuts routes to go green

On Thursday, less than a week before classes would start, the ECU Student Transit Authority sent out an email to student announcing change within the system.

The email read, "ECU Student Transit Authority has made major changes to its service for the Fall 2009 semester. Riders who have used the transit system in the past should note almost all routes have undergone changes and some areas will no longer receive any service." The email continued on by encouraging students and faculty alike to check their website for changes in schedules.

With the new schedules and bus routes Pirates will notice several changes in the day and night service provided by ECUSTA.

One of the biggest changes is the elimination of the 403 Silver route. In the online guide ECUSTA explains that the 403 was dropped because the usage was too low to support it's own bus line. The 401 Purple bus added Cannon Court, Eastbrook Apartments and Eastgate Apartments to their service and Village Green was moved to the 403 Brown bus. With the loss of the 403 Silver route, University Apartments, Eastern Elementary School, University Condominiums, Kingston Condominiums, Breckenridge Square and Twin Oaks were dropped from the schedule.

So how will the tenants of the apartments who were dropped from the bus lines get to campus? The ECUSTA Web site suggests that "alternatives are available, such as walking to or parking close to another nearby bus stop still receiving service." For example, some of the stops serviced by the 403 are being picked up by the 401 Purple and 402 Brown instead.

Siyara Dobbs, senior, said it might not be convenient during peak class hours. Dobbs lives in Sunchase Apartments.

"There are a lot of people that have to get on the bus so it takes time and you're in traffic, so you might get to campus when class starts rather than a few minutes before," said Dobbs.

Another big change for Pirates is the time change for the 900-series Pirate Express, which runs to the downtown area. The shuttle, which originally started at 10 p.m, will now be pushed back and not start until 11 p.m.

Director of ECUSTA, Wood Davidson, explained that all of the changes were based on ridership. ECUSTA logged 53,000 hours of service last year but with the current budget had to cut 10% of their hours this year, which would be 5,000 hours. Davidson explained, "We tried to cut hours where there would be the least amount of impact and the Pirate Express has very low ridership at 10 p.m."

Other changes include a change of the Pirate's Cove hub from Speight to Christenbury Gym and changes in pick-up intervals to better match peak class times at student complexes like The Bellamy, Copper Beach, University Suites and North Campus Crossing.

In a note on the ECUSTA fan page on Facebook they say the changes will lead to, "Better service, more efficient operations, fewer emissions and less dependency on petroleum products."

Download a map and list of the routes nearest you at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-studentlife/transit/routes_2009_fall.cfm.

This writer can be contacted at editor@theeastcarolinian.com