With the introduction of the Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit program, Mississippi State University and local officials are hoping to extend and strengthen a public transit network into Starkville.
At a Wednesday meeting in the Colvard Student Union, Mike Harris, director of parking operations, revealed the plans for the new routes. In the fall, three new routes will be added, all of which will go into Starkville.
The first revealed route was the campus-city connector route. The route is ultimately planned to begin and end at the parking garage that will be behind the post office in the future; however, Harris said until that building is complete, the route will anchor from Giles Hall. From there, the route runs up University Drive, through the Cotton District and circles around on West Lampkin Street to run down University Drive again. Harris said the route is expected to take 10 to 15 minutes to run a complete circuit.
A special bus that looks like a trolley has been ordered to be used on the route, which Harris described as a historic route.
The next route announced was called the city circular route. The route will go around the city of Starkville, through areas that provide access to medical services, Walmart, residential areas, the industrial area and others. There will be a point near campus that intersects with the sportsplex route that will allow passengers to get off and switch routes if they need to get to campus.
He said two buses will run the route. One will run the circuit clockwise, and the other will run it counterclockwise.
The third route was the sportsplex route, which was first introduced last fall.
Harris said plans are to add more stops between Montgomery Hall and the Sportsplex, which are the foundation points for the route.
Harris also said 12 new buses have been ordered to fill the needs created by the new routes.
“The buses have been ordered, but it takes 180 days for them to get here,” Harris said. “That puts them into August, so we’re hoping to have them ready by the time school starts. If not, we may have to push things back to the next month.”
He said he hopes the SMART program is will be a first step of growth over time.
“We hope to add more routes in the future, but this is a starting point,” Harris said. “What we want people to know is the places the buses are going are places they want to go.”
Harris said officials would look at ridership once the routes were going and, if needed, make modifications to the stops along the routes.
One aim of the program is to help reduce congestion on busy streets in Starkville, like Highway 12.
Harris also said he hopes the new routes will help ease some of the parking strain on campus.
“We want to help reduce the need for new parking lots on campus,” he said. “Sure, we can build new parking lots, but is that the best use of our land? No, it should be used for new classrooms, residences, other things for students.”