DOTS reinstates New Carrollton Metro line

After seven years, DOTS has brought back a Shuttle-UM bus to the New Carrollton Metro station this semester after a similar route was discontinued because of low ridership — a problem university officials say will not plague the line this time around.

In addition to the New Carrollton route, the Department of Transportation Services has combined two bus lines into a new Circulator shuttle that runs between North and South Campus and added a route that runs between the campus and the Mazza Grandmarc apartments on Route 1.

Although Shuttle-UM routes have been discontinued in the past because too few students used them, DOTS Director David Allen said having so many public transportation options will encourage more usage, thereby eliminating the problem.

"In 2003, we were not as pulled into the regional transportation system," Allen said, referring to the New Carrollton Metro station being a transportation hub, offering commuters the option to take Amtrak and MARC trains in addition to Metro and Greyhound buses. Transportation from the stop also runs to Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

"You can get to anywhere in the world now by starting with our buses," Allen said.

Paid for by an increase in summer parking fees, the New Carrollton shuttle leaves from Stamp Student Union every 70 to 80 minutes during weekdays and runs south along Route 1 and east along Route 410.

Senior French literature major Greg Schlein has taken the New Carrollton bus each day so far this semester. Schlein commutes to the campus from Aberdeen, which he said amounts to four hours of travel time each day.

"Before this, I relied on friends to pick me up," he said.

Schlein said he observed that ridership has not been high.

On Monday and yesterday at about 11:30 a.m., Schlein said three people were on the bus, and on Tuesday at about 2 p.m., Schlein said there were about 10 people riding the bus.

Allen said the department does not have a specific ridership goal, adding he believes the New Carrollton shuttle will be more successful this time around and that DOTS plans to keep the route in service for several years.

"New bus route [ridership] traditionally starts off very low," Allen said, noting that it often takes several years before a bus route becomes widely used.

DOTS also added a route called the Circulator, a combination of the North and South Campus Connector routes. Beverly Malone, assistant to the director of DOTS, said the Circulator was the department's solution to a tight budget.

Junior aerospace engineering and studio art major Frange Abaraka used the South Campus Connector last year. He had no complaints about the new route, which he took yesterday morning to beat the heat of walking across the campus from the student union to BookHolders.

The third new route is the Mazza Grandmarc shuttle, which runs weekdays from 7 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. along Route 1 on its way to the apartment complex. Malone said the shuttle is a sponsored route, meaning its costs are subsidized by the apartment complex.

mccarty at umdbk dot com