Wednesday, September 6, 2000 - The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - 3F
GETTING AROUND TOWN
Public transportation
alleviates parking pains
By Sara Fedewa
For the Daily
As students make their way to, campus this
fall, the streets of Ann Arbor become increas-
ingly congested, leaving students and resi-
dents wondering what mode of transportation
best suits their needs. While having a personal
vehicle may seem to be the most convenient
way for students to get where they need to go,
pricey permits, problems with parking and
costly tickets bften lead many to rely on bikes,
walking or public transportation.
The most prevalent problem among the
car owners on campus is the difficulty of
parking. The Office of Parking Services
strongly discourages students from bring-
ing cars to campus.
LSA senior Kristie Thelen said, "A car is
really unnecessary if you live on campus.
Most places that students need to go are with-
in walking distance and parking can some-
Transportation tips
r Busses start their routes as early as
6:40 a.m.
N The final bus route is 2:20 a.m. Sunday.
Thursday and 3:00 a.r, on Fridays and
Saturdays.
E Night Ride cabs offer late-night rides
for $2 per person. To request a Night Ride
Cab call 663-3888.
8 Safewalk and Northwalk offer a free
walk home from Shapiro Undergraduate
Library or the Media Union,
times be so frustrating that it is easier to
walk."
A small number of students are issued a
two-semester parking permit, allowing them
to park in specified lots on campus. Freshmen
and sophomores are ineligible for these per-
mits and other students feel that the cost is so
high that the permits are not an option.
Recent LSA graduate Dave Cistantino
explained that he applied for a parking
permit when he was employed at the Uni-
versity Hospital, but decided against pur-
chasing it because the permit was
"ridiculously expensive."
The majority of students with personal
vehicles must rely on parking on the street
at meters or in one of the parking garages
near campus. This can also prove to be
costly as parking at a meter on campus
will cost 60 cents an hour and parking on
the street in the actual city of Ann Arbor
costs 80 cents per hour.
"Street parking is hard to find and once you
do find a spot, it gets very expensive," said
LSA junior Amelia Landesman, who chooses
not to have a car on campus.
On top of the difficulty of finding a parking
space, the risk of acquiring a parking ticket,
which can cost the car owner anywhere from
seven dollars to $100 per citation, encourages
many University students to leave their cars at
home. Handing out 69, 313 parking tickets
in the year of 1999 alone, the Department of
Public Safety closely monitors Ann Arbor's
streets, structures and lots, leaving it vir-
tually impossible to "get away" with park-
ing illegally.
Given the potential problems with bringing
a vehicle to school, many students rely on
public transportation to get around Ann
Arbor. The University provides free busses to
students, which run on various routes through-
out campus, including stops at North Campus,
Central Campus and South Campus. These
busses arrive at all stops every ten minutes
during the week and every 20 minutes on
weekends.
One complaint among students is that, at
certain times, the wait can be longer than the
standard ten minutes.
Corey Hunter, an LSA junior, said
"Sometimes the busses can take up to a
half an hour, especially at the stop in front
of the Union."
A representative of the Office of Trans-
portation Services at the University, Bitsy
Lamb said that most of the dissatisfaction
among students with the bussing systems
comes from their own lack of orientation with
the campus and the bus schedules.
"Students need to understand that this is
their responsibility. No one is there to take
them by. the hand to where they are going,"
Lamb states, stressing the importance of
becoming familiar with the schedules and bus
routes before using the system.
Information about schedules and maps
of routes are available on the Transporta-
tion Services webpage at www.transporta-
tion.umich.edu.
The final bus route is at 2:20 a.m. Sunday
through Thursday and 3:00 a.m. on Fridays
and Saturdays, but students needing to get
back to one end of campus after these hours
can still find free transportation through the
Ride Home program. After requesting service
at Shapiro Undergraduate Library on Central
Campus or the Media Union on North Cam-
pus, a taxi will meet the student and take them
to a residential address within the city limits
free of charge.
There are other alternatives for late night
transportation as well. The Nite Owl Bus Ser-
vice provides a free shuttle ride from the
Shapiro Library and Administration Services
BRAD QUINN/Daily
Parking is a permanent problem at the University and students have to find alternative means of transportation. One popular way to move around
campus is the University bus system. (Above) Students exit the bus at the C.C. Little bus stop on North University Avenue.
Building to stops on Central Campus only.
These busses run every 15 minutes from 7
p.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.
The Night Ride program offers a late night
shared taxi that goes anywhere in Ann Arbor
for only two dollars a person. This offer is
available from IlI p.m. to 5:45 a.m. Monday
through Thursday, from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. on
Friday, from 7 p.m. through 8 a.m. on Satur-
day and from 7 p.m. through 5:45 a.m. on
Sundays. To request a Night Ride Cab, call
663-3888.
Another option for transportation in Ann
Arbor is the busses run by the Ann Arbor
Transportation Authority. Full information on
schedules and fares is available on the AATA
website at www.theride.org Costing 75 cents
a ride, the public busses run to places such as
Briarwood Mall and the Maple Village Shop-
ping Center from stops throughout campus.
The AATA also offers shuttle service on
football game days for two dollars per ride
and a free shuttling service from off-campus
commuter lots to stops on campus.
The numerous taxicab services in Ann
Arbor offer students more options for get-
ting around the city. With more than ten
taxi services listed in the Ann Arbor yel-
low pages, the biggest difficulty may lie in
selecting one company.
Bob Gordon, owner of the Ann Arbor Taxi
Service said, "Any taxi-cab has the same rate,
which is set by city council."
For that reason, the option of "shopping
around" for the best deal is unnecessary
and an individual will probably be left
choosing a cab according to its availability
and promptness.
Taxi services can also be utilized for trips to
and from the airport. The Ann Arbor Taxi
Service offers a S40 flat rate for such trips.
The utilization of a cab for a trip to the airport
will be especially helpful to those making last
minute travel plans and those wishing to be
picked up directly from their home.
Perhaps a more cost effective option, the
Michigan Union Ticket Office sells tickets for
the Commuter Express, a shuttle service to
and from Detroit Metro Airport. These tickets
costs S21 one-way and S40 round-trip and
must be purchased 24 hours prior to the
requested shuttle service time.
The Commuter Express leaves the Union
every hour at 15 minutes after the hour, start-
ing at 5:15 a.m. and going until 7:15 p.m.,
while the shuttle leaves Metro airport every
hour on the hour starting at 7 a.m. with a final
shuttle at midnight.
Whereas transportation may seem more try-
ing for disabled students, the city of Ann
Arbor and the University attempt to aid those
students by providing more accessible and
less expensive means of transportation. Any
disabled person may take a taxicab anywhere
in the city for only S 1.50.
The University also hosts a Handicap
Parking Assistance Program and allows
students to apply for University permits if
they are issued a valid handicap permit by
the state. Students should apply for both.a
of these options at the Office of Parking
Services at 508 Thompson Street.
Even with all of the transportation
options in Ann Arbor, the option that stu-
dents at the University utilize the most is
their own two feet. Walking to class, restau-
rants and downtown eliminates the frustra-
tion of parking and the cost of taxis or
busses. Students travelling by foot at night
should be aware of two programs offering
escorts for the way home - Safewalk and
Northwalk. Available at the Shapiro Library
and the Burslcy Residence hall, respective-
ly, both of these programs provide free
nighttime walking services for destinations
within a 20-minute radius of their base.
With so many options on campus, students
should be able to find a convenient cost-
effective mode of transportation even with-
out the luxury, or hassle, of their own car.
'City,
'
remain recycling leaders
By Krista Gullo
Daily Staff Reporter
The city of Ann Arbor and the
University continue to be among the
nation's recycling leaders despite
reported lagging recycling rates in
S the state and across the nation.
"Recycling is alive and well and
strong in Ann Arbor," said Ramsey
Zimmerman, project manager for
Recycle Ann Arbor, a private non-
profit collector of the city's recy-
clables.
The Fall 1999 semester marked
the 10th anniversary of the Univer-
sity's recycling program. Today
there are more than 3,000 collection
containers for recyclable goods in
University buildings and residence
halls for students, faculty and staff.
The program has expanded from the
collection of white office paper,
newspaper and corrugated card-
board to include the collection of
mixed paper and container collec-
tion.
Since its start in 1989, the Uni-
versity's recycling program has
been successful in increasing the
portion of goods recycled on cam-
pus by students, faculty and staff.
The recycling program, which was
initiated due to student support, has
been most successful in recycling
paper.
Comparing 1996-97 and 1997-98,
the amount of paper recycled at the
University rose from 2,000 tons to
2,167 tons and the amount of con-
tainers recycled rose from 124 tons
to 127 tons.
"This whole community is so pro-
recycling" said Sarah Archer, the
University's recycling.coordinator.
While recycling has increased on
campus so has the amount of trash.
The University's trash rose from
7,700 tons in 1996-97 to almost
8,000 in 1997-98.
"We aren't seeing as much waste
diversion," Archer said, referring to
other ways to dispose of garbage,
other than in landfills.
Archer attributes the increase in
waste to the strong national econo-
my which encourages greater pur-
chasing and packaging and less
reducing and reusing.
"It is important for people to
think about reducing not just recy-
cling," Archer said.
"It takes a lot more to do the
reduce part," said EnAct facilitator
Brianne Haven, an SNRE junior.
The University bases its recycling
goals on Washtenaw County's goal
of a 30 percent diversion rate. "We
have been achieving that goal for a
number of years," Archer said.
At the city level, Ann Arbor is
one of the top five recycling cities
in the nation, according to the Insti-
tute for Local Self Reliance.
"For at least three years Ann
Arbor has had participation rates
that have been over 95 percent in
terms of the number of people who
recycle at least once a month," Zim-
merman said. Ann Arbor has a 50
percent diversion rate already, Zim-
merman said.
Zimmerman credited Ann Arbor's
success in recycling to its long term
history and to the dedication of city
residents. Ann Arbor started recy-
cling in 1970 during the first Earth
day celebration and curbside recy-
cling began in 1977. "Our program
has a full wide range of materials
that are recyclable and there are no
plans to reduce the number that will
be accepted," Zimmerman said.
Currently Recycle Ann Arbor is
committed to exploring new options
such as electronics and carpet recy-
cling. "We have had very strong
cooperation from U of M students,
making sure it is a community wide
effort," said Ann Arbor Mayor
Ingrid Sheldon.
Sheldon said that because so
much material is recycled in Ann
Arbor the city is able to keep land-
fill fees relatively low and she does
not anticipate the fees to increase.
She also said the money saved by
recycling has allowed the city to
expand the services that it delivers
to its citizens. Educating people has
been more successful than mandat-
ing recycling in Ann Arbor Sheldon
said. "We have not taken a manda-
tory approach," Sheldon said.
Cara Clore, recycling measure-
ment specialist at the Michigan
Recycling Coalition, said legislators
in Michigan need to mandate the
use of recycled material in the man-
ufacturing process. "If recycling
isn't working, it's because there
isn't a market for materials collect-
ed and one way to create markets is
to require producers to use a per-
centage of recycled materials,"
Clore said.
"Quantity, quality and a market for
recyclables makes recycling success-
ful," said Lucy Poroshko, recycling
coordinator in the Pollution Preven-
tion Section Environmental Assis-
tance Division of the Michigan
Department of Environmental Quali-
ty. There is currently no Michigan
legislation mandating the use of
recycled goods in production and
Doroshko is not aware of any legisla-
tion in the future. The main legisla-
tion concerning recycling mandates
counties to assess where solid waste
is going and to judge the potential
for recycling, but the actual recy-
cling is not mandated. "Mandates
can be a burden sometimes,"
Ann Arbor first started recycling during the first Earth Day in 1970.
Doroshko said.
Clore could not speculate about
the state of recycling in Michigan
because there are currently no com-
prehensive statistics about recycling
in the state. Michigan has not bud-
geted money for the issue. In order
to address the recycling information
void the EPA has given the MRC a
$48,000 grant to develop a mecha-
nism to perform a recycling mea-
surement study annually. The results
of the survey are scheduled to be
published in October or November.
Doroshko said that money has not
been budgeted by the state to con-
duct a comprehensive study of recy-
cling because it is focusing on
source reduction rather than recy-
cling. Doroshko also said it is diffi-
cult to gather consistent information
on recycling..
I I
CODES
Continued from Page 2i=
two different area codes.
LSA senior Andre Shannon said
he was concerned about the hassle
of more digits, but was accepting of
the possible overlay area codes,
"1t xici, Lihe-'somew~Ahat of anf
UNITED AUTO AND FLEET REPAIR
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OIL CHANGES
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