Mason Works to Promote Alternative Transportation

By Broadside Staff Reporter Tina Miller

It is widely accepted that George Mason University is largely made of commuting students.

Because of this, parking becomes something that must be planned into one’s schedule every day. This is particularly true for students who have class at peak times on the busiest days, which are Tuesdays and Thursdays. For some, it is not only an issue of time, but of safety, as well.

“I come to campus an hour early for closer parking because I don’t like walking far in the dark to my car,” said Rosabel Farruggio, a junior management major who commutes to Mason’s Fairfax campus.

Although the current parking situation may seem hopeless to students, faculty and staff, the Mason Transportation Department is making efforts to promote alternative transportation options at Mason.

“There are many options to help commuting students,” said Anne Whitley, Mason Transportation Coordinator. “For example, this April we are having our first ever Bike To Mason Day to promote bike-riding to campus.”

Bike to Mason Day will take place on Earth Day, April 22, and will be a day of activities that includes breakfast, a talk by Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature, and will conclude with food and music. Additionally, local bike stores, Oasis Bike Works as well as Bikes@Vienna, will be on campus offering free bike tune-ups for anyone who rode a bike to campus that day.

Additionally, there are new updates concerning any students or staff who have outstanding parking tickets. If students ride their bikes on Bike to Mason Day, they can reduce the payment on a parking ticket from $75 to $35.

In order to make biking to school accessible at Mason, the Transportation Department has a committee made up of students, faculty and staff who are working to better the program.

“They are working to make Mason a more bike-friendly campus,” Whitley said. “They [the Transportation Department] talk about things like bike lanes and discuss improving the bike riding experience on campus.”

In addition to biking to campus, Mason also offers a number of different buses and shuttles. Popular buses to and from the Fairfax campus include the Fairfax Connector: Route 306, the MetroBus and the Cue Bus.

The MetroBus is an option for people living anywhere from Fairfax to McLean to downtown Alexandria. If coming from areas local to Mason, then the Cue Bus is available for free to anyone holding a Mason ID.

“Many people think that buses take longer than taking your own car,” Whitley said. “But once you calculate parking, it takes about the same time.”

Fairfax campus shuttles include Prince William Shuttle, Mason to Metro Shuttle, West Campus Shuttle and Field House Express Shuttle.

Schedules for all of these bus and shuttle services can be found on Mason’s Transportation Department Web site. Furthermore, if the buses and shuttles are not enough, the Web site also has a link to GoLoco.

GoLoco is a carpooling network that allows commuters to find others who are traveling on the same route. An individual can even put in their own information in order to pick up other commuters. Through this process, drivers can earn money, which can then be used to split the costs of gasoline used during the commute. GoLoco can also be accessed through its new Facebook application.

For those doubting the benefits of alternative transportation, Mason’s transportation Web site devotes a page to this topic. The Web site claims that some of the benefits of alternative transportation are that it saves time, it saves the environment and it saves money.

One way to calculate exactly how much money a person could save from using alternative transportation is to take the “commuter connection” survey. A link to this survey can be retrieved from the Mason transportation Web site. The survey allows you to personalize the commute, which factors how many miles you drive a week, how many miles per gallon your car gets and how much gas costs you.

Once the information is entered, the survey will give an approximate number of how much money can be saved by using alternative transportation.

Whitley explains that Mason’s extensive and interactive transportation website is there to encourage all students, faculty and staff to look into ways of alternative ways of getting to and from campus.

“There are some areas that it might seem impossible to find alternative transportation, but you have to be willing to be flexible,” Whitley said. “If nothing else, there’s always someone to carpool with.”