RHA supports cutting two on-campus bus lines to finance new route to New Carrollton Metro

The Residence Hall Association voted to create a bus route that would run from the New Carrollton Metro Station to campus at a meeting last night, opting to eliminate two unpopular lines in order to finance the new one.

The move would eliminate an expected $70,000 deficit in the Department of Transportation Services' budget once the North Campus and South Campus Connector routes — which had relatively few passengers and seemed to be used for convenience rather than necessity — are cut next year, South Campus Commons Senator Debbie Kobrin said. DOTS Director David Allen still needs to approve the plan.

But despite the cost-saving measures that DOTS plans on enlisting, RHA senators questioned the economic sense of adding a new line given the budget troubles the department will face.

"In light of the difficult economic times and increasing budget deficit, it would not be a good time to add a route at all if we can see a place to cut without seriously affecting student fees," South Campus Commons senator Yoni Levey said.

The benefits of creating the new line largely outweigh the negatives, Kobrin countered, especially given that even though the department is adding a new line, it will not be incurring any additional debt to create it. 

Some senators were still not sold on the idea, however, because of an already existing Metro bus that runs from New Carrollton to College Park.

"If there is a Metro bus, then why do we need something that Metro provides?" one senator argued. 

Senators argued a Shuttle-UM route would be more useful than Metro buses that charge money and make frequent stops. They also argued the new route would connect members of the surrounding community to campus.

"I think anything that's going to broaden the reach of [the university] is a good thing," another senator said. "We also have to remember that the bus routes are not just supposed to help on-campus students, but also need to help out faculty and graduate students."

But Levey and other dissenting senators — one of whom called for a survey to determine how many students would use the new route — thought the RHA should keep the concerns of undergraduate, on-campus constituents in mind.

"I understand what was being said about representing the community," he said. "It seems overall that most of the benefits are going to graduate students that are far away and need to get here."

Even after the RHA's seal of the approval, the proposal is still in its early stages. DOTS Director David Allen may decide to seek support from the Student Government Association and Graduate Student Government before finalizing the measure.

"It's not the last step, it's a step to show ‘Hey, there's student support for this,'" Kobrin said.

korku at umdbk dot com