A telephone rings in the Student Government office, and he hears familiar words echo through the receiver. A loaded bus just left another student stranded at the bus stop. He grabs his keys and heads for the door to bring an unhappy student from the bus stop to class – all because he doesn’t take the University’s inefficient bus system lightly. In fact, he canceled his trip to the beach during spring break to finalize year-long collaborations with administrators. His name is Corey Weber, and his passion for improving University transportation has some saying he has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Like many students, he has stood anxiously on the side of the road, waiting for a bus to come barreling around the corner minutes before class. But Weber, SG director of transportation, has made it his personal mission this past year to improve the University’s transportation system. And he has done it all without receiving a single cent. “I wake up and go play golf in the morning on Fridays, and then I sit in my truck and follow the buses around all day long,” Weber said. “I write down the bus number and the time each bus takes to pass through campus. And it gives me the opportunity to survey students waiting.” Weber pooled his tracking data with figures from the Capital Area Transit System and set to work implementing more bus routes. Weber is responsible for this past month’s implementation of the additional bus route along Sorority Row. Weber said he realized the Greek community needed a more efficient bus system after following buses this past semester. “I pulled some trams together and created the new Greek C route that is now running,” Weber said. “The Greek B route will stop running at the end of the semester. The B route runs behind the sorority houses, but we’ve had poor ridership on this, and I know this because I’ve studied the numbers from CATS.” The Greek A route merited just as much attention as the Greek B route in Weber’s book. “The Greek A route – they have the last three sororities that are always getting passed up because it’s so full,” Weber said. “Greek A and Greek C will run along the same route – just in opposite directions – to fix this problem.” But before non-Greeks jump the gun about the additional route, Weber has also been conducting research for the past year to implement more buses throughout the campus area – with Tiger Land topping the list. “He meets with me constantly to bounce ideas off, but some things are slower in getting implemented,” said Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation. Graham said he has worked with the biological sciences senior regularly for the past year to analyze fall and spring bus data. And though the academic year is winding down, Graham said he will be sorry to see Weber leave SG. “He’s been fantastic,” Graham said. “He’s been very passionate and dedicated to working for the transportation system for students, and he has a really good grasp of the system.” But Weber said his work isn’t finished just because his semester is ending. He said he still has more research to do before Graham finalizes proposals for the implementation of four trams that will run from outer parking lots to inner-campus. Weber said he discussed options with more than 12 tram companies to determine the most logical – and financially feasible – approach. “This is something I wanted to do to ease the burden Easy Streets has put on commuters,” Weber said. “Each tram will hold roughly 15 to 20 passengers.” Graham said the concept plans are complete, but which vehicles will be used is still under debate. “Gary [Graham] and I are going to continue working on this for the next few months,” Weber said. “Initially, it was going to be funded solely through the Coca-Cola funds, but there has been talk about outside resources to help ease the financial burden of this on our part.” A third big initiative on Weber’s list includes plans for the campus buses to start using a GPS system – something Weber said he is excited about making a reality. “We want students to be able to view each bus in real time by pulling up a Web site and clicking on ‘LSU buses,'” Weber said. “Let’s say I’m in class, and I want to know where my bus is so I can know whether I have to hurry up or not, I can look at the Web site.” Graham said the GPS system is possible and several other bus systems are turning to the idea as well. While re-routing the bus system, bringing in additional trams and implementing a GPS system may be where Weber is focusing his attention, he already accomplished about 20 other initiatives since his appointment to the SG executive staff this past spring. Posting complaint contact information in what Weber called “big bold letters” inside campus buses is just one product of Weber’s work. He said the phone number for the SG office and the parking office are displayed along with an e-mail address to send complaints and suggestions. “If I’m in Student Government and the students have complaints week after week, then I’m not doing my job – that is my motivation,” Weber said. Weber said riding the bus also drove him to seek a complete overhaul of the system. “Every bus was the same, and they were all horrible,” Weber said. Weber said his work began with conversations in Free Speech Alley with Graham and students. SG Vice President Josh King said he helped give Weber some direction and template plans, but he couldn’t take credit for any of the research. “Corey [Weber] has done a lot of great work on his own with the buses,” King said. “He really wants to make a difference.”
—-Contact Natalie Messina at [email protected]