campus bus vs public bus: The stigma and the need

I found the topic discussed in class on Tuesday to be quite interesting in regards to public transportation.  The topic of public transportation began since a case was brought up in our readings that was resolved in favor of the lower income community. We then began analyzing Clemson’s current bus system, listing its pros and cons but I felt that the main point was being missed.  A university's bus system is drastically different than a public bus system, and I’m not saying that the quality of the bus system favors the university buses (quite the opposite in my experience actually) but the need and stigma are drastically different. 

During my undergrad EVERYONE took campus buses to get the architecture building because it was so far from the center of campus.  We packed into our blue buses in masses without a second thought while our fellow students drove us around on icy roads, we never thought anything of it. It was something everyone did because parking just wasn’t available. It was not a “status thing” to take the bus or walk. It was done out of convenience.

Then my junior year I got a townhouse far away from campus, to get to studio I had to take the townhouse shuttle, which would drop us off on campus, and then from there take the campus bus to my class. On the rare days I missed the shuttle I would have to take the city bus to get onto campus. The city buses were nicer, newer, and instead of being surrounded by 50 students there were usually only a handful of other riders (almost never fellow students) so I always got a seat. It was more pleasant to me than taking the cambus buses but no one else would ride them. Some of the city buses had the same routes as the campus buses yet people would cram into campus buses leaving the city buses empty even though both were free, ignore the fact that these two buses serve the same function. My conclusion to this was the unfortunate social stigma that apparently comes along with riding the bus in the US. For some reason our society has deemed it to be a lower status means of transportation while I found it be quite convenient.  However, I speak about this subject knowing that I did not have to only rely on the bus system as my only means of transportation. I recognize that for some, this was their only way to get around so it is their voices that should be heard when matters of routes, funding, maintenance are brought up to the community.

My experiences in Italy and abroad were quite different, we viewed the bus systems almost as a luxury.  We would treat ourselves to taking the bus up to the villa to avoid the long uphill walk. The negative social stigma that seems to exist in the US around the bus didn’t seem to exist in Genoa. I think all cities could benefit from reducing the number of cars in the cities and supporting mass transit, especially for those who have no other choice. I think it starts with abolishing this pointless stigma.

University of Michigan Blue Bus