Plan would link KU on Wheels, city buses

Kansas University students may get two bus services for the price of one. And the Lawrence Public Transit system may increase ridership, and thus federal funding, if the city and KU on Wheels agree to partner up.

A KU on Wheels proposal would allow students with a KU on Wheels bus pass to ride the T for free. The city would keep track of student passes, then bill KU on Wheels for the rides.

Mike Appleby, KU on Wheels transportation coordinator, will make the pitch to members of the city’s Public Transit Advisory Committee at their monthly board meeting at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

The idea would be tested with a one-semester pilot program, Appleby said. During that time, transportation officials could measure how many students use the city buses.

“KU students can flash their pass, and it hopefully will give us a picture of what the overall ridership will be,” Appleby said. “We’d like to get an accurate picture of the carryover before we set up a long-term program with the city.”

Appleby said the program would be beneficial for the city and KU on Wheels. With both systems providing different services, he said, teaming up would give student users more options.

“KU on Wheels provides service for students from home to campus and then home again,” Appleby said. “We don’t generally have routes that take students to work or to do shopping, if that happens, cool. But that’s not our main mission.

“The ride-share (arrangement) between the two systems would allow students to travel anywhere students would like without having to pay a cash fare.”

Lawrence Public Transit Administrator Karin Rexroad said that student ridership was vital to the city’s system, but that the T didn’t have it on a regular basis. The city receives federal funding for the T’s operating costs, based on population and ridership numbers. KU on Wheels’ ridership averages 2.3 million a year, compared to the T’s 140,544 in its first year of existence.

“Since I started here, one of the questions we’ve tried to answer is how can we better coordinate with KU on Wheels,” Rexroad said.

Appleby said the idea for a pilot program would have to win the approval of the transit advisory committee and, eventually, the Lawrence City Commission. He’d like to see it get started by spring 2003. And he hopes the city will be able to provide a discount to get the program rolling.

Rexroad said it was up to the members of her board to agree to the terms, but tracking the number of KU riders should be fairly simple.