Students share Stingerette views

Approximately 50 percent of students who responded to a survey by the student government association (SGA) said that they had used the Stingerette for transportation to Centennial Place or Home Park, according to results released by SGA. Only about 5 percent of students who used the service said they would be willing to wait more than 20 minutes for a Stingerette van.

In addition, most students indicated that they were unwilling to pay an increased Transportation Fee.SGA is continuing to work with Auxiliary Services and Parking and Transportation to match students' needs.

"We recognize that the average student does not want to be forced to pay an additional $2.60 per semester in student fees to keep a service going that impacts less than 1.7 percent of the student body, or roughly 300 students," said David Andersen, undergraduate student body president. "However, SGA also recognizes that however small this 1.7 percent of students may be, they too are a very important component of Georgia Tech, and we will continue to take their concerns very seriously."

"The main constraint is funding," said Mark Youngblood, undergraduate Electrical and Computer Engineering representative. "The Stingerette only gets paid money from parking tickets and the Transportation Fee."

"We're willing to listen and work with the SGA for alternate ways to fund [the Stingerette service]," said David Williamson, assistant director of Parking and Transportation.

One idea which has been suggested is charging students who wish to take the Stingerette off campus a fee. However, according to Williamson, this may transform the Stingerette into a taxi service rather than one which serves students without any charge.

"My concern is that if a fee is being collected, we will become a taxi service," he said.

Another concern, he said, is that wait times would increase if Stingerette vans were forced to travel a long distance away from campus.

"The real concern is that a boundary has to be drawn-we're willing to listen to students to try and figure out where the boundary's going to be," he said.

SGA also received many written responses to the survey in which student voiced specific complaints. Many students pointed out the issue of safety; they could no longer depend on the Stingerette as a safe means of transportation to their off-campus residences during late hours. "We are certainly concerned about the safety issue," Williamson said, "but when you go off campus there is an [additional] cost."

Wait times have been kept to under 10 minutes for approximately 80 percent of riders while the Stingerette has remained on campus, according to Williamson.

"According to numbers released by Auxiliary Services, the average Stingerette wait time jumps from under 10 minutes to more than 20 minutes on average when the service is extended off-campus," Andersen said.

In addition, Williamson indicated that Parking and Transportation was considering tracking the Stingerette vans with its Global Positioning System and making that information available online.

"We have talked about putting the Global Positioning System on the Stingerette Vans, but this is in only in the planning stages so far. It would give the dispatchers a better idea of where the vans were," he said. SGA notified students of the survey, which went out last November, by email. It was available online at SGA's website. According to Andersen, SGA received over 2,000 responses.

Of 2,000 responses to the survey

• 5% would tolerate a wait time greater than 20 minutes
• 30% were satisfied with current Stingerette service
• 60% used service for safety reasons
• 20% travelled to Centennial Place
• 30% travelled to Home Park