This year, the Lane Transit District extended the hours of its 79x route until 2 a.m. to serve University students traveling between campus and the Kinsrow area, behind Autzen Stadium. The service provides a safe means of transportation for more than 1,000 students each week, and was one of the most ardently defended issues during this year’s ASUO election season.
However, the University may go back to being the only Pacific-10 Conference school without a late-night bus service next year, as LTD and bus drivers’ union representatives say student misconduct has rendered the service “a drunken and unsafe ride” and have threatened to drop the contract if behavior doesn’t improve.
LTD is doing the University an immense service by providing these extended hours, and it is important for students to show their appreciation by conducting themselves appropriately while using the service. It costs money and manpower and, especially in the face of budget concerns, isn’t something to be taken for granted. However, as it is funded entirely by the ASUO and University administration, the financial burden does not fall on LTD. Moreover, since its instigation, the service has seen immense support and heavy use, and proven itself instrumental to keeping students safe and drunk drivers off the road. Thus, while student misconduct is an issue that must be addressed, LTD’s threat to cancel service based on bad behavior goes against the general responsibility of a public transit system.
It’s important not to downplay the severity of misbehavior on public buses. Endangering the safety of drivers or other riders is unacceptable, and if a student acts in such a way that, off the bus, would merit law enforcement stepping in, the same rules should apply on the bus. But there have been no incidents requiring police response, LTD spokesperson Andy Vobora said. And, more importantly, the benefits of the service outweigh existing concerns about unruly riders. Take Oregon State University’s Beaver Bus, which runs until 2:45 a.m. on weekends: The service, begun in 2006, has reduced the number of car crashes, drunk driving arrests and sexual assaults, bus coordinator Austen Samet said in an Emerald article in February.
It was no secret when the LTD service was initially extended that a large number of its patrons, especially on weekends, would be partying college students. Keeping citizens safe and drunk drivers off the streets is a principle purpose of public transit. Also, the fact remains that the occasional unruly rider is an unfortunate reality of public transportation – discontinuing service based on a few riders’ misbehavior is a rash and counterproductive measure that should only be a last resort.
This is not to say LTD should continue service while the University does nothing to improve the behavior of its students or work with LTD to make the service work as safely and efficiently as possible. Measures such as enforcing a fine for misconduct or banning students from using the service after a certain number of infractions would encourage improved behavior and send the message to students that, while LTD is serious about keeping them safe, it is also serious about maintaining order on its buses. Drivers who are assigned to the late-night routes could even undergo further training to better deal with drunk patrons.
A security guard currently rides the late-night bus to monitor behavior and keep students in line, and Vobora said this has improved rider behavior. If the cost of extra security measures is a concern, late-night riders could pay an extra fare to help cover the extra costs – the bus would still be significantly cheaper than a taxi, and certainly cheaper than a DUI.
The fact is, if the students and administration are willing to pay for a late-night bus service, LTD should be willing to work with them to maintain it. Public transportation has a responsibility to its community that should not be dependent on good behavior from every person who uses it. Clearly the service is badly needed, and to do away with it because of bad behavior on the part of a few students does the entire community a serious disservice. As a comment on The Register-Guard’s Web site says, “Better to have a young man carry a young woman off of a bus than have a coroner carry her out in a body bag.”
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Unruly riders need late-night bus
Daily Emerald
April 22, 2009
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