“We’ll take you there!” This was the slogan for the GTA (otherwise known as Greensboro Transit Authority) until recently, when it became “A New Era.” This isn’t the only change that has taken place in recent years – GTA has also expanded its system, with 14 routes during the day and seven at night and on Sundays. Currently, Community Senate, with the help of Randy Doss, is trying to work out a schedule with GTA to create a better transportation situation for students.Senior Dave Kaplan began taking the bus in October to his classes at UNCG to learn the routes and schedule, to get in the habit of taking the bus, and to save money on expensive taxi fares. “I’ve only been taking it for the last few months, but I knew that they implemented late-night in October 2000, so during the week it goes from 7:30-11 and on Saturdays from 7-1, while it runs Sundays from 6 am-6 pm. There were previously no buses on Sunday,” Kaplan said.Kaplan also points out that the bus only runs every hour, and the closest late-night and Sunday bus stop is a 15-20 minute walk from campus. He feels that although the bus system has become better in recent years, there is room for even more improvement. “Everyone should experience GTA once or twice to understand the limitations that people in the city who are transit-dependent experience daily and why it makes us so frazzled.”He noted that one may have to be on the bus long periods of time for a destination that is only 15 minutes by car. “I’ve found the bus to be late on many occasions. It doesn’t always stick to schedule – it is sometimes late and sometimes early. Often, I have to adjust my plans a lot. Sometimes when the bus is ahead of schedule, I am running. They need to expand and bring the Friendly bus at night.” Kaplan believes that because there are so few people using public transit in Greensboro, people downtown don’t necessarily understand how inconvenient it is for people who depend on public transit to meet their needs. Pat Mitchell, first began to work with GTA in October of 2000. Mitchell said, “This is an exciting time for students,” she said. “We are looking at a route that will connect universities and help students get to their jobs, shopping opportunities, etc.” She feels that the system has improved in many ways, some of which include customer service, vehicle reliability, maintenance, and proactive training. “There is in-house training, refresher training, and every once in a while on a particular topic, we are keeping on top of it and not assuming that because someone has been driving for years there is nothing for them to learn.”Mitchell feels that although there is still an issue in terms of how spread out Greensboro is, this will always be an issue. “The service is customer-oriented. Often, people focus on the bad stuff, but we get occasional good stuff too: we once got a call about a driver helping out a visually impaired person.”Since deciding a few years ago that I am too visually impaired to drive safely, I have looked into several other transportation methods in the city. I knew that many bus routes from Greensboro to Winston-Salem and High Point were too expensive. I am therefore happy to hear that GTA is looking into a bus route to other places in the Triad. I began to regularly take the bus this semesterin order to get to my internship. I share some of Dave Kaplan’s feelings of frustration at having to rush during an already frantic workday in order to catch up with a bus, knowing that waiting an extra hour for the next one, or having to resort to expensive taxi fares, is not an option. Another figure on campus who is familiar with the bus system is Mona Olds, whose husband drove with GTA for 7 years, from 1994-2001. In part because of this, Olds has had the opportunity to observe the system for several years. “They frequently make routing adjustments, depending on the needs of the population they are serving. Several years ago, they added late-night service.” Olds also mentioned the recent conversations Guilford has had with GTA about making it more accessible to students. “Students seem to know very little about the bus system. One of the things that would help Guilford students is to be able to get to places without switching buses. Another problem is that if students want to get to Friendly Center, they can’t get back.” Olds is happy that there is a bus stop at Guilford, but wishes more students would use it. “It’s a vicious circle; there are not enough people who use public transit at the stop in front of the college.” She points out that GTA is expanding its services so that a Guilford student will be able to take the bus to the airport. A system called PART (Piedmont Area Regional Transit) will also exist by October 1. “We’re talking to GTA about what they can do, to also offer limited service to students who don’t have cars,” Olds said.Randy Doss, has also been involved in the decision making process. “The First-Year Advisory Board has also been making decisions about improving the bus system. We felt that the hours were not synonymous with what college students need.” Doss feels that one way to pay for the bus system is to realign college budgets. Another option would be to line this up with another college so that both Guilford and the other schools would pay half. This new college bus schedule would run from Wednesday to Friday, 6 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday 2 p.m.-2 a.m., and Sunday 6 p.m.-11 p.m. Doss stated that when members of the Guilford community met with people from GTA, those at GTA stated that the possibility would not be open until September of 2003. If GTA cannot provide something until 2 a.m., the school will provide it, hopefully by August 2002. “We hope this option will open up Greensboro to Guilford,” Doss said.