New fare may lure riders
LTD lowers bus fares
By MARIAN GREEN
OtlwEmmkl
University students may be
pleasantly suprised to find they
can climb aboard a Lane Transit
District bus for at least ten cents
cheaper than last week
And that's not all thaf s new
The transit district has been
working in the past several
months to revamp and stream
line its bus system to meet the
needs of bus riders
The public transportation
agency has held public work
shops and hearings, a "transit
day,” conducted several
surveys and launched a publici
ty campaign for its revised ser
vice
Sunday was the culmination
of all that effort when the new
service went on line
LTD redesiged its service
because people's needs were
changing, says Ed Bergeron, an
LTD marketing representative
"We were providing a bus
system mainly for people who
couldn't drive or afford a car
Now people want to take the bus
to school or to work on a regular
basis," Bergeron says
In the spring of 1980, LTD’s
board of directors increased the
bus fare from 35 to 60 cents —
partially was responsible for a
28 percent ridership drop, Ber
geron says
Emerald graphic
LTD hopes to regain a good
portion of that lost ridership by
lower fares, Bergeron says
As of Sunday, the 60-cent fare
was lowered to 50 cents, and
bus toKens, which can be pur
chased in the University area at
7-11 stores, the EMU Main Desk
and the University Bookstore,
cost only 40 cents. "Fastpass"
monthly bus passes were
lowered to $16 for adults, $12
tor youths and $8 for children
"It's a good faith effort to get
people back on the buses,"
Bergeron says
The major route change in
volved switching the LTD bus
system to a "line route" system,
which means routes will run
both directions, incoming and
outgoing
Bergeron says this switch al
lows roundabout one-direction
routes to be dropped without
major rider inconvenience
Under the new system, buses
arrive most frequently at the
route stops during morning and
afternoon commuting hours
when ridership is heaviest. For
high ridership routes, that may
be every half hour. On less
crowded routes, buses may ar
rive less often, Bergeron says.
Formerly, LTD buses covered
more streets in less frequent
runs, he says
“The trade-off has been
coverage," he says but adds
that LTD still passes within a
quarter-mile of 86 percent of the
Eugene-Springfield communi
ty’s households
"Given the limited resources
we have to work with, it only
makes sense to allocate them
where ridership is heaviest,” he
says "When traffic is jammed
and everyone is trying to get
home, that's when we should
have the most buses.”
Bergeron says LTD will be
monitoring the new system clo
sely in the next few weeks and
months in order to make adjust
ments
To minimize rider confusion
with the new system, LTD
workers distributed leaflets to
six Eugene neighborhoods out
lining changes “so they don’t
get lost,” Bergeron says
396 E. 18th at Mill Street 686-8321
V ^ J
Cafe fire
caused by
fat fryer
Five Eugene Fire Department
units responded to a blaze at the
EMU Wednesday afternoon that
caused an estimated $3,500
damage to the student union
building's grill area Firefighters
extinguished the fire in approx
imately 15 minutes
A malfunction in the heating
element of a deep fat fryer
started the fire, according Jim
Jensen, a fire department in
spector
"We used fire extinguishers
to keep flames knocked down,”
said Jim Covington, EMU food
service director. "The flames
were only about two feet high I
was happy with the way people
handled it and there were no
injuries ”
The EMU was evacuated
when the 2:15 pm fire alarm
sounded "The evacuation of
about 350 people went smooth
ly with no injuries,” said Adell
McMillan, EMU director
Preliminary reports that
indicated the fire retardant sys
tem housed above the fryer did
not activate during the blaze
were false, according to Jen
sen He reported the chemical
retardant was released and
helped to squelch the flames
Although the retardant was
released, the heating element
thermostat of the deep fat fryer
failed to shut the fryer off when
the flames started
""The system has been
checked out now and is in good
condition,” Jensen said