Correction (Dec. 2 12:55 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, this story incorrectly identifies the committee that has provided $8,020 for the bus tracking equipment. The student safety and security committee within student government provided the money. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Students will no longer be in the dark when it comes to catching the P2P.
Student government is trying to install NextBus tracking equipment on P2P buses starting next semester to allow students to better know when the buses will arrive at stops. The plan, which still depends on raising sufficient funds, is part of a larger goal to increase nighttime campus safety.
With the technology, students would be able to look up exactly when the next three buses will arrive at any stop. Student government officials said they hope riders will be more likely to use the P2P if they have reliable information regarding arrival times.
Students will be able to access this information through texts or on the Internet, as well as on the screens at several bus stops.
In a survey conducted last week by student government, 96 percent of more than 700 respondents said they would use NextBus technology to locate the P2P if such a program existed.
Ashley Klein, the co-chairwoman of the student government’s safety committee, cited the high percentage of favorable replies as evidence of the need for such a program on campus.
“I think just knowing when the bus is coming can help students plan a safe way of when to come home at night,” Klein said.
Safety committee members said they were enthusiastic about the program’s potential.
“I don’t know why this hasn’t been done before,” said Nissan Patel, a member of the safety committee who originally proposed the idea.
Patel said his freshman experience living in Hinton James residence hall inspired him to suggest implementing NextBus technology for the P2P system.
Klein added the NextBus system could make the P2P times more reliable.
She said the arrival times would become even more accurate as time goes on since NextBus adapts to account for traffic delays and stoplights.
To track buses, NextBus places GPS locators on the vehicles. The locator then tracks the bus as it travels on its pre-programmed route.
Klein said she hopes the program will start by the end of next semester.
“I think it’s just a matter of working through a few red-tape issues,” she said.
Since the program already has the support of the Department of Public Safety, the next stop for the committee is getting money and finalizing a contract with NextBus.
“If we can get the money, DPS is ready to do this,” Klein said. “NextBus is ready to do this, and I think the administration is all about making students feel safe on campus.”
The program will have a $10,000 start-up cost, Klein said. The committee is currently negotiating the yearly operational costs.
So far, the committee has obtained $8,020 from the University safety and security committee, made of University administrators, and has applied to different organizations on campus for grants.
Jennings Carpenter, the student body treasurer, said the yearly costs could be funded by an increase in student fees in the future.
Klein said the inclusion of NextBus on the P2P is part of a three-pronged approach to increase safety on campus.
Student government is also working on creating SafeWalk, a program providing students with buddies to walk them home from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on school nights, and publicizing Rave Guardian, a program that uses students’ cell phones to notify DPS of their whereabouts if they do not turn off a timer when they safely reach their destinations.
The NextBus system is currently available for daytime Chapel Hill Transit buses.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
