Of seats and doors

NEWS

Stimulus populous











An update on June 26 from the Federal Transit Administration shows that of the $48 billion to be "invested in transportation infrastructure" as part of the $787 billion American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus package, only 27 percent remains unallocated (see chart).

President Obama last week signed a supplement to ARRA that now allows up to 10 percent of a transit program's capital investment to be used for "operating assistance."

Is any part of the transportation program at NAU eligible for such assistance?

When they're handing out money ...














"Thanks to strong DOT partnerships with state and regional stakeholders, every state and territory has met the deadline to obligate 50 percent of their highway recovery funds within 120 days. That's right; every single one," writes US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood in his blog, Welcome to the Fast Lane. Vice President Joe Biden (pictured) joined LaHood in making the announcement.

Arizona's share, according to an email from LaHood on June 25, was $260 million. These are funds that have already been put to work in Arizona toward roadways, bridges and other infrastructure.

While funds from the feds does not qualify, one location in dire need of quick "shovel-ready" attention is the SBS parking lot. Oh well, we can dream, can't we?


VIEWS

Of seats and doors
Editorial by 61

“Bottom line is, getting people on and off the trains faster allows us to keep our on-time performance and accommodate more passengers,” says Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Chief Spokesperson Linton Johnson.

How to get people "on and off the trains faster?" And buses too, for that matter? According to Johnson, his agency is removing seats closest to entrance doors. While this reduces the number of seats available for transit users, it actually increases flow-through of passengers both exiting and boarding the vehicle, because it relieves bunching around the doors.

Fewer seats near doors means faster boarding and shorter dwell times at bus stops. And when fewer people sit, carriage capacity per vehicle increases.

NAU is anticipating continued enrollment growth in the semesters ahead. In addition, zone parking will be instituted for Residence Halls this Fall. It is not unlikely that the 25,000 peak riders we transported each week last semester will increase this year.

It is vital that every step that our transit department and our University can take regarding transit improvements be implemented in order to meet these ridership challenges.

As with BART above, reduced seating on our vehicles is one step. Our riders are not typically on a bus much more than 6 or 7 minutes. Unlike commuter service, standing for the trip across campus does not impose an undue hardship upon most people. Seating will still be available to those who need and ask for it.

Likewise, acquiring multi-door buses, similar to Denver's 16-Street Mall buses (pictured) which have 4-doors on the curb side (and are powered by Compressed Natural Gas), is another step.

An even speedier solution would be to have 4 doors on each side of the bus, requiring riders to board from one side and exit from the other. Such flow patterns would require true bus station designs. High-flow vehicles and stations should be implemented for at least the busiest north and south bus stops in the system, such as at SBS.

Capital investment funding such as ARRA should be sought after as one of many strategies for the bus lane ahead, which seems to have all the earmarks on our campus of becoming increasingly utilized.