Miami Student

Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: Campus

The Miami Metro Orange route travels on campus Monday. This academic year marks the first year of a new contract under Laidlaw Transit.

The close of the 2006-07 academic term marks the end first year for the Miami Metro's contract with Laidlaw Transit - and according to Laidlaw and Metro drivers, the year went relatively smoothly.

Carolyn Kelly, Laidlaw's branch manager in Oxford, said that although the type of bus Miami uses is different than what she's used to at other branches with Laidlaw, the transportation system did not see many difficulties this year.

"Overall, (the first year was) good," Kelly said. "It was difficult in the beginning, because I was used to school buses, but I would say overall, things went well."

Kelly also said all the drivers from the year before had returned despite the change at the beginning of fall semester in companies from Hamilton Tours to Laidlaw. She also said that the routes remained mainly the same, except for taking buses off College Avenue, after being instructed by the city of Oxford to avoid having buses running on cobblestone streets.

Yet according to Perry Gordon, the senior vice president of finance for parking and transportation services at Miami University, the Metro has seen some changes in ridership over the past year.

"Ridership through March 25 was down a little over 40 percent (from last year)," Gordon said.

Yet Gordon said he wasn't positive if the change was part of a pattern.

"Although I don't know if I could come up with a clear explanation, the logical explanation might be that people are riding their cars more," Gordon said. "Off-campus permits are down 15 to 16 percent (from last year) too though, so it's hard to tell. We had a mild winter and the weather in the earlier part of the year was good enough to walk in."

Kelly said changes made this year include installing pull strings for stops and having air conditioning in the new buses.

Tom Hounshell, a driver for the Miami Metro since 2004 after working for Propipe Technologies as a supervisor for 20 years, said the transition to Laidlaw Transit went as expected.

"I wouldn't say it's easier now, just about the same," Hounshell said. "I mean you just get on a bus and drive it - that's it. The air (conditioning) sure makes a difference though."

Continued...

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