Free to Ride, Not to Be Complacent

Since switching to fare-free transit in January 2002, bus ridership has shot up 38.6 percent from the same period last year. Before the fare-free system was instituted, officials were estimating ridership to increase by only 10 percent to 20 percent.

With Chapel Hill Transit system ridership increases surpassing expectations, officials are quick to claim success for their fare-free system. And they should be celebrating -- the numbers show that people really enjoy not having to pay 75 cents for a ride to school or work.

But after only nine months, it is still too early to tell whether fare-free busing will have a lasting influence on the future of Chapel Hill transportation.

As the town is forced to deal with massive University expansion over the upcoming decades, public transportation still will remain a challenge.

Most of the bus-riders have been around to hear the hype surrounding the fare-free movement, which has basically provided free advertising for Chapel Hill Transit. The riders experienced life before and after the fare-free system was implemented -- and are therefore more likely to give the buses a try.

But over the next few years, when new students and community members are introduced to the town of Chapel Hill, it might not be obvious to them how easy and cheap it is to take the bus -- unless it is clear that a large portion of the population use the buses on a regular basis.

While some off-campus students rely on the buses to get to class, the majority of the student population isn't using buses to get around every day.

As students, we have a love affair with our cars -- why take a free bus when we can drive our gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles down to the mall? And if members of the UNC population were asked if they had used Chapel Hill Transit in the past month, (or ever) the percent of students who would answer "yes" probably still would be low.

But Chapel Hill Transit and the University need to keep trying to encourage students to leave their cars at home. Like it or not, over the coming decades, the "town" of Chapel Hill will begin to look like a "city." City dwellers accept public transportation as a necessary way of life -- and that attitude should be adopted here in Chapel Hill.

While it's great that ridership is increasing, it is partially the University's job to encourage all students to take advantage of the free public transportation available to them. Besides, all UNC students are paying an extra $9 a year for the buses to be fare-free -- it's important they get what they pay for.

The rider numbers show the biggest increases are found on the routes taking people from apartment complexes to the UNC campus. This proves students and faculty are taking advantage of the fare-free system -- but it also could have something to do with the fact that on-campus parking is virtually nonexistent this year.

Although the lack of parking is an inconvenience for many, it is a necessary step the University has made to encourage commuters to use public transportation on a regular basis.

It is doubtful the ridership will drop off in the future, but it should be the goal of the town and University to keep the ridership numbers increasing into the next few years. An increase of 38.6 percent over nine months is great, but real success is keeping community members riding the buses for years to come after the hype over fare-free busing has worn off.

It is commendable the town and University communities have come together to agree on the importance of public transportation to alleviate traffic and environmental problems the influx of people in the community has caused.

Congratulations to Chapel Hill officials on a successful first step toward making public transportation an affordable option.

But a challenge remains for them to demonstrate to all community members that Chapel Hill Transit is the best way to get around the town.

Carolyn Pearce can be reached at cpearce@email.unc.edu.