This week in Senate:

FUSA has established an ad hoc committee addressing transportation issues on and off-campus in an effort to quell students’ concerns with the current system.’

The committee, which meets for the first time Thursday, will evaluate ways to more effectively link students to off-campus destinations.’ Mary Crowley ’09, chair of the committee, said the student Senate is ‘very aware’ of the problem- which may become more pressing with the elimination of sophomore parking next year- and hopes to be pro-active in addressing it.’

‘I’m looking forward to this committee especially because the committee is comprised of some very strong senators who are passionate about working on the transportation issue,’ she said.

‘I really believe that we will be able to institute some sort of change or improvement that helps this less-than-satisfactory situation on [and off] campus.”

The University’s decision to eliminate sophomore parking will leave more students without cars, increasing the need for alternative forms of transportation.’

Jordan Hummel, FUSA’s secretary of communications, said an outside research firm analyzed Fairfield’s parking situation and provided suggestions based on its findings.’
She said schools comparable to Fairfield were ‘benchmarked’ in an effort to more effectively manage parking, and that the decision to eliminate sophomore parking was a result.’

Hummel said the school is preparing to administer a survey analyzing transportation needs among students without cars to supplement transportation where needed.’ ‘

‘Apparently it’s pretty rare at other schools for sophomores to have parking,’ she said.’ ‘We need to analyze reasons why freshman and sophomores need to travel off-campus, and go from there.”

Adding more shuttles, including the addition of vans, to the current fleet of buses is among possible actions that could be taken, along with the creation of an on-campus ‘safe-ride’ program.’ A shuttle providing beach residents with an alternative to driving to class is another possibility the committee will explore.