Public Transit at SIUC

Public Transit at SIUC

By: Lucas Shubert

            The public transportation network at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a serious problem with no real solution in sight. At its core, this problem comes down to connecting students and employees to their destinations. The current systems simply do not accomplish that well enough. For example the shuttle system, while functional, is a massive time sink for anyone who uses it. It can take as much as thirty minutes of riding and waiting to get two miles down the road. However, it does succeed at moving people around faster than walking (in most cases).

                This problem has many solutions, some of which are simpler than others. The difference between them is the amount of backing by powerful offices required. Personal rapid transit is an available option for city-wide change in transportation mode. I am currently researching how PRT can best fit into the SIUC campus and Carbondale as a whole. It has the potential to move people from A to B much more efficiently than a shuttle or shuttle by actually delivering the user to his or her destination, instead of within one mile of it.

                One could argue that bicycles have similar potential. In fact bike riding is popular on campus, but only for those that live within a certain small radius. The problem is that the buildings on campus are ill-equipped. Adding showers to all the major buildings would encourage bike riding. Or larger, more centrally located showers could also serve long distance bike riders. Once on campus, deposit rental stations for bike riders could be located around the campus’s periphery to create a new network of fast, easy transportation.

                Parking has long been a concern of most students who have to drive any distance to get to SIUC campus. This problem does not have an easy solution. Parking garages are expensive, perceived as unattractive and can take up a great deal of space. A high-rise garage would create much more parking, but would not fit into the dynamic of the campus very well at all. Unless it were mixed with the above systems of transportation like bicycle rental and PRT, providing one large parking garage would only partially help the parking constraints. Multiple smaller parking garages would be a better solution, but could potentially change the atmosphere of the campus completely. I guess I’ll just have to keep driving and then walking.