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By DAVID PEDREIRA
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 7, 2000
TAMPA -- Living less than a mile or two from campus doesn't stop thousands of University of South Florida students from hopping in their cars and driving to class every day.
The university and the city of Tampa hope to curb the incoming traffic with the introduction of the school's first off-campus shuttle, which would make 86 daily trips in a circular route north of USF. The ride would be free for staff, students and faculty.
The Tampa City Council was scheduled to vote earlier this week on an interlocal agreement that would set up a $3-million trust to create the shuttle system. It would be paid for with mitigation fees that the Florida Board of Regents gives to local governments to make up for traffic congestion around its universities.
Plans call for the shuttle to run north on 42nd Street, cross Skipper Road and come back to the campus on 46th Street, making stops at a number of apartment complexes along the way. University officials estimate up to 27,000 riders would use the system each year.
USF's transportation division hopes to have the shuttle running by the fall semester.
"Our goal is to get people out of their single-occupant vehicles," said Chris Hagelin, a research associate with the Center for Urban Transportation Research.
If the shuttle service is successful, the university may expand it east and west of the campus, said Rick Fender, associate vice president of administrative services for USF.
Currently, USF runs an on-campus shuttle that handles 18,000 to 20,000 passengers a month. Only one shuttle leaves campus, traveling to University Mall during the lunch hour every day.
The new "circular shuttle bus system" would begin service at 6:46 a.m. every day and run until 9:24 p.m., Fender said. The small buses would be able to handle 15 to 20 passengers at a time.
An interlocal agreement calls for the city and the university to assess the shuttle's performance by 2003.
Officials hope to attract students to the shuttle with an advertising campaign. The university has talked with several apartment complexes about building shelters and shuttle stops, Hagelin said.
The shuttle would do more than ease traffic around the campus, Fender said. It also would free parking spaces, which have become a hot commodity.
"We have sectors of the campus where it's very hard to find a place to park," Fender said.
David Pedreira can be reached at (813) 226-3463 or pedreira@sptimes.com.