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It is the ultimate “rock-star parking.”

No car, no parking spot required.

Doesn’t get much greener than that.

Monday, Nov. 18 marks the start of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh’s “Ride the Bus to Campus Week.” Campus community members are encouraged to try leaving their cars at home and using the city of Oshkosh’s GO Transit system – a public busing system that, in 2012, saw record rides by UW Oshkosh community members able to use their Titan ID cards for free access.

“We were excited to reach the milestone of more than 100,000 UWO rides carried in 2012, which indicates how many in the University community find GO Transit to be a key part of meeting their transportation needs,” said city of Oshkosh and GO Transit Director of Transportation Christopher Strong.

“We have had a good partnership with UW Oshkosh since 2000, a partnership in which students, faculty and staff can use our bus service without having to pay a fare,” Strong said. “This relationship makes it simple for members of the University community to take GO Transit to class, to work, to their home, to shopping or to any other destination we serve in our community.”

GO Transit’s website – www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us/transit — has an easy-access listing of routes and times for the system. It also emphasizes the Route 10 connection to the city of Neenah, where Fox Cities riders can hop on board a coach-style bus and travel to or from Oshkosh and connect to campus in minutes in speedy, comfortable ride.

“Many are aware of the good, 30 minute frequency of service we offer throughout the city,” Strong said. “We also offer a good connection to and from Neenah via Route 10.  This connection expands our service into the Fox Cities areas and gives our customers the chance to save significantly on their commute costs into UW Oshkosh while having time to catch up on reading, texting friends or just relaxing.”

UW Oshkosh’s 2012 record number of rides on GO Transit was no slouch feat. UW Oshkosh community members collectively logged enough miles to circle the Earth more than 13 times.

… See the February press conference announcing UW Oshkosh’s GO Transit record:

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGa8ieFsaQA” frameborder=”0″ allow=”autoplay; encrypted-media” allowfullscreen>

 

The surge in bus ridership also had a, by the numbers, significant impact on campus efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Figuring the average UW Oshkosh commuter’s vehicle gets 25 mpg, 2012 UW Oshkosh bus ridership saved 13,078 gallons of gasoline in 2012. That is the equivalent of approximately one to two tanker trucks of gasoline.

The EPA estimates that about 19.6 pounds of CO2 (greenhouse gas emissions) are produced by burning one gallon of gas (http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/documents/420f11041.pdf). Factoring that, UW Oshkosh GO Transit riders prevented 256,329 pounds of CO2 from entering the environment in 2012 alone.

Parking forums Nov. 13

Ride the Bus to Campus Week will follow two scheduled campus Parking Open Forums set for Wednesday, Nov. 13. All members of the campus community are encouraged to attend one of the feedback sessions on Nov. 13:

  • 11:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m. in Reeve Memorial Union room 307
  • 4:00 p.m.-5:30 p.m. in Sage Hall room 1210.

 

The University’s Parking Services is hosting the forums to help continue gathering campus-community input as the process of shaping the Parking and Transportation Master Plan continues. That plan is a component of the overall campus master plan. The forums are designed to help address the long term needs of UW Oshkosh residents and commuters, namely faculty and employees and students but also visitors and event attendees.

Forum hosts will also discuss short-term solutions, alternative transportation modes and any other parking/transportation issues of interest.

For questions on the forums, contact Parking Services at parking@uwosh.edu.