Students upset about being displaced by the Patrick F. Taylor parking lot closure may have found a surprise Monday afternoon.
The Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation re-routed one CATS shuttle Monday from Tiger Tram to run through the two Taylor extension lots and Alex Box Stadium lot to Taylor Hall. Student Senate Speaker Colorado Robertson initiated a meeting with Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation, Monday morning to discuss immediate accommodations for students parking in remote commuter lots. “We saw a need, and we got it done with the administration and Student Government working together,” Robertson said. Graham agreed to re-route a Tiger Tram shuttle to run through the three lots to alleviate students’ stress of walking long distances to the campus’ common areas. Re-routing the Tiger Tram shuttle did not induce any additional costs for the department. But a second shuttle will go into use by the end of the week, and it will be funded by the parking office. Robertson said the shuttle schedule will parallel the schedule for class changes. Depending on the usage rate, Graham plans to increase the number of shuttles running to the campus’ center. Each shuttle can transfer 15 to 20 people. “I wanted to make sure something was done this week to alleviate some of the problems,” Robertson said. “This is something to benefit the students right away, and it was easy to do.” Robertson said students should see signs displayed in the parking lots informing them of the shuttle schedule by Wednesday. If the shuttle system proves successful, Robertson said it could be a precursor for the long-term Tiger Trams program on the Student Government Executive Branch’s list of initiatives. Robertson said if the shuttles have a low usage rate, the resources will be allocated elsewhere, and the CATS shuttle will be re-routed to its original route. Before Monday, the shuttle ran from the LSU Veterinary School through campus to the Student University Recreational Complex. Robertson said despite the low usage rate, one shuttle remains on this route. “We decided it would be more beneficial to have it be used as a shuttle for commuters in parking lots,” Robertson said. “I expect people to be parking around the signs and hop on a shuttle and take it up to class.”
—-Contact Natalie Messina at [email protected]