HEAT, or Higher Education Area Transit program, services Guilford as well as Bennett College, UNCG, Greensboro College, GTCC, Elon University School of Law and its newest member, A & T. After a semester of existence, figures have been tallied about the number of riders. Last semester, 150,957 students from the then six participating schools boarded HEAT busses. Guilford College comprised 2 percent of those trips. This percentage translates into 3,655 trips taken by Guilford College students.
Even though Guilford only made up 2 percent of the total rider-ship of HEAT, the school has a significantly smaller population at 2,687 than UNCG with 16,632 students and GTCC with 8,984.
“I am pleased with the number of HEAT riders, and I think that the numbers indicate a good rate of riders for the size of the college,” said Dean of Campus Life Aaron Fetrow. “Even though our rates are smaller, our students have a lot farther to go than other riders. Usually, when our students ride the HEAT, they are going downtown or to UNCG, which is a lot farther than say UNCG students have to go.”
When the total number of trips is examined across the whole population of Guilford, students rode the bus an average of 1.8 times last semester. This ranks Guilford College fourth in total usage of HEAT after Bennett College with 20.4, GTCC with 11.1 and UNCG with 3.2.
The number of cars on campus may have a small part to do with the reduced numbers. The total amount of registered vehicles, according to public safety, is 1,642, which is more than half the students on campus. But, the cost of a car may influence the number of people to ride HEAT in spite of having transportation at their disposal.
Some students have had positive reactions to HEAT.
“The one thing that I do love about the HEAT system is that it allows traditional students to go unworried about obtaining transportation and gives them an opportunity to see the city and not be restricted to campus,” said Terril Boykin, sophomore. “As a CCE student, it allows me the opportunity to get a higher education without having to worry about the cost of commuting or raising gas prices.”
Access to HEAT is provided to anyone who has a Guilford student identification card; the I.D. provides both the HEAT service and the GTA system free.