Campus Accommodations for Transit

Transit accommodations can make riding the bus more appealing. We asked the faculty and staff about accommodations including shelters and fees. We first asked respondents if they would like to see more shelters on campus. Fifty-five percent reported they would like more shelters on the NDSU campus. The most frequently suggested locations for the shelters included Memorial Union, Library, Old Main, Bison Sports Arena, Fargodome, and 12th Avenue-Albrecht-Bolley. We also asked if they would like heated shelters on campus and if so, where they should be located. Fifty-seven percent reported they would like heated shelters on campus (Figure 18). The top locations suggested for heated shelters included Memorial Union, Old Main, Fargodome, at the current shelters and wherever there is no building/shelter in which to currently wait.

We asked respondents if they would be willing to ride the MAT bus if administration provided a monthly pass at a reduced rate. More than one-third of respondents reported they would ride MAT at a reduced rate. We further asked if they would ride MAT if administration provided a free monthly pass. Fifty-three percent reported they would ride MAT if provided a free monthly pass. The high percentage of individuals who indicated they would take MAT with a free pass is positive for campus. If more faculty and staff shift their mode choice to public transportation, it will reduce parking demand to help alleviate the overcrowding of the parking lots. Further, it will allow the University to focus more on developing buildings to hold the new programs, and serve the education and research needs of the campus.

This study found that faculty and staff are very reliant upon their personal automobiles. However, there does appear to be openness to public transportation, but the routes need to serve the residential areas of the NDSU employees and provide more direct service to campus to reduce travel time. Further, it appears there is a need for better marketing of the bus schedules and service to campus faculty and staff. Making public transit convenient and easy to use to get to and from campus can address NDSU's mobility growing pains.

End Notes

1. Numbers acquired from Mr. James Silvernagel, Pagecenter Specialist with Information Technology and Mr. Richard Jacobson, NDSU IT Security Officer, respectively.

2. Dr. James Miller. Transportation on College and University Campuses: A Synthesis of Transit Practice. TCRP Synthesis 39, Transportation Research Board - National Research Council. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2001.