February 5, 1999 Calvin College Chimes

GRATA: taking a ride on the wild side By Dave Hogendam Guest Writer What on earth is GRATA? You mean, Grand Rapids has a public transit system..yeah, right! Where do they go? When do they come by? Many Calvin students will remain unaware of the public transit system in Grand Rapids unless they read this article or just try it out once. I have been riding the bus for three months now, partly due to lack of personal transportation but also because I realize the opportunity it represents to expand my horizons...and save a few bucks. The Grand Rapids Area Transit Authority, otherwise referred to as GRATA, has been around since 1973. There are approximately eighty buses out there on a regular day with two or three buses on each route. Route 14 and route 6 are the routes that run by Calvin. The possibility of adding another bus to route 6 is in the works. The sheltered bus stop going westbound is right beside the main entrance on Burton Street and the eastbound stop is across the road, in front of the seminary. There is another set of route 14 stops by the apartments. These routes can take you directly to the Malls, to the downtown area, anywhere down Burton and with the free transfer system...you can go anywhere! The problem that many people have with the current system, which the folks at GRATA know, is that the bus does not run past 6:15 p.m. Even on Saturday’s the bus runs only until 9:30 p.m. GRATA addresses this issue by explaining that they are not getting enough local support (at least the local support of the citizens with the deepest wallets) to afford that kind of service. One way of getting at these local wallets would be to charge a mileage. This is an allowance or tax which covers the expense of transportation for each mile. Grand Rapids is currently one of the only cities without a mileage tax, yet the general public is not too excited about having this change. The thing that is so great about Calvin students riding the bus is that it only costs 25 cents. All you have to do is show the bus driver your student I.D., drop in a quarter and let your Calvin tuition pay the remaining 45 cents. Thanks to Jerry Steele, the remaining bus tab is picked up by your friends at Campus Safety. With the recent union of the Calvin Campus Safety and Job Transportation Service departments, Mr. Steele is aware of the expense of the convenient but ritzy Job Transportation Service and would rather see more students utilizing an already existing public transportation system. He has also noticed the increase in parking violations on campus and would love to see fewer cars parked here (and more of them in the designated spots). Of the sixty-five students Calvin asked to fill out a survey, forty of them said that parking on campus was a problem. I have a suggestion to alleviate that problem...take the bus! For more information on routes and schedules, take a look at the display by Campus Safety and JTS or call GRATA at 776-1100. Sticking with the practical and rational reasons for riding the bus, I would say that the bus is probably the safest mode of transportation. On those slippery, unplowed Grand Rapids’ roads, a big bus is going to stay on track a lot longer than your little college car. Besides, a professional bus driver should be a better driver than the average college student. Environmentally, the bus is an exceptionally friendly mode of transportation, considering that a full bus takes about 50 cars off the road. A 10 percent nationwide increase in transit ridership would save 135 million gallons of gas/year. You would not believe the kinds of people you can meet on the bus and the kinds of conversations you could have or overhear. I don’t think that in any other confined place could you finds more diverse representation of our population. On the bus, I have heard or had conversations ranging from body piercing and female flatulence to racial/political imbalances and social justice. I never knew how eye opening and world-view shaping a bus ride could be. I think that the only excuse left for you to argue is one that you are embarrassed to speak about. Perhaps protecting your image and remaining in situations where you are comfortable is holding you back from giving GRATA a try. To that, all I have to say is, “suck in your pride and go for a ride” it could change your life.