Harrisonburg transportation system should facilitate more routes
Posted on September 10, 2007
On a sizzling Saturday, thousands of students, family members, friends and fans crowded onto JMU’s campus to watch the first home football game of the 2007-08 season.
Hours before the 3:30 p.m. kickoff, students crammed into Hillside parking lot, sprawled out on the Zane-Showker field and pervaded other parking lots on campus to enjoy a few pre-game activities.
As the aroma of burgers and ‘dogs wafted through the air and the smell of stale beer accompanied the sight of beer pong tables littered with empty cans, all I could think about was that the vast majority of these people, who were brave enough to endure the horrendous heat, were quite intoxicated. Mobs of sloshed college students perused around parts of campus carrying blue and red party cups that are more appropriately a staple at weekend drinking sprees.
Even though I lived in the village last year, I was completely oblivious to the extent of on-campus tailgating before football games. However, I became aware of just how accepted tailgating is last football season when my flip-flopped feet were the lucky recipient of someone’s vomit. The goal for a lot of tailgaters is to just make it into the game, and that is a feat in itself. Perhaps almost just as daunting as how these tailgaters will make it home.
It’s quite possible that every car on campus had at least one intoxicated person in it, and it’s scary to think that some of those cars were commanded by drivers who had a few too many drinks.
Drunk driving is not a joke. That’s been drilled into our heads since high school it seems, yet some of us still partake in this dangerous and potentially deadly practice. I would hope that we would all designate a driver to drive us home if we’re drunk, but should other alternatives be available?
The many Darts & Pats about the shortcomings of the Harrisonburg bus system have not been overlooked, and the numerous complaints about the system can’t be ignored. The bus schedules are, to say the least, inadequate to the needs of students, regardless if they live on or what day of the week it is.
During the week, at least one bus stops in every apartment complex. These buses frequent each complex from early in the morning to late in the evening. However, on the weekends, buses are scarce. Some buses only run during the evenings, including everyone’s favorite mode of safe transportation for weekend diversions, the “drunk bus.”
Last semester, there were no buses that circulated throughout Harrisonburg on Sunday. Fortunately, the bus system has been amended to cater to the individuals who must take advantage of public transportation, even on the most restful day of the week. I wonder why the system hasn’t been modified to assist the students who have places to go and people to see on Saturday, perhaps the busiest day of the week for off-campus action.
Football games are another story. Home games are usually on Saturdays, and take place in the middle of the day. The only transportation available to JMU students are the elusive buses that travel to the obscure corners of Harrisonburg, occasionally making their way to one or two stops on campus. This is hardly adequate for students who need a reliable, safe mode of transportation to and from football games.
The Harrisonburg Department of Public Transportation should consider revising their system to accommodate more routine and timely bus routes that will extend to each apartment complex as well as to campus. Countless students would take advantage of this more available bus system, to be sure.
No, it’s not to mooch a free ride off the ‘burg instead of paying for a taxi or bumming a ride off a sober friend. Instead, making the bus system more available to facilitate the needs of students not only during game days, but also on Saturdays in general will ensure the safety of JMU students as well as the Harrisonburg community.
Anna Young is a sophomore SMAD and sociology major.
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