Making Game Transport a Fan Favorite
Today marks the long-awaited home opener for the Georgetown men’s basketball team. Students with season tickets will flock to Verizon Center to cheer on the Hoyas as they face the Temple University Owls. As they make the considerable trek downtown, we bemoan the hassle that the university’s limited transportation options place on these loyal fans.
The university currently increases the frequency of Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle bus runs between campus and the Rosslyn Metro stop in the hours preceding home games. Students must then navigate crowded Metro stations and at least one line switch amid throngs of other fans. The indirect commute can add several hours to a game-day excursion, and can be difficult for students to schedule between classes and homework on weekdays.
The Georgetown University Student Association has indicated that it is developing a proposal that would respond to the inconvenience of this process by changing the structure of the GUTS service. An online survey distributed by GUSA on Sunday asked students to mark a preference for either the current system or for a decrease in the Rosslyn buses and an increase in the number of shuttles destined for Verizon Center.
We would support a potential GUSA resolution advocating direct shuttles. Given the current economic climate, the expense of Metro tickets — on top of the cost of the season-ticket package — can be a strain on ticket holders’ wallets. In recent seasons, the Georgetown Athletics Ticket Office has sold tickets for the men’s and women’s home basketball games in a combination package. Although that measure is certainly understandable — in that it benefits both teams — it can place a significant dent in individual student budgets. For this reason, the university must step up its efforts to ease student transport to games.
Of course, before the university implements an augmented shuttle policy, it will have to weigh the financial and logistical considerations that would accompany it. In past seasons, students who shelled out the fee for tickets received Metro fare as a part of the deal. If funding a bus service routed toward Verizon Center cannot be achieved in the short term, another worthy alternative could be the return of Metro tickets included in the student package
Whatever the method, we are ultimately calling for a university effort to improve access to Georgetown sporting events. Schools comparable to Georgetown — like Duke and Vanderbilt — have intimate on-campus arenas that play host to basketball games. The committee on the 2010 Georgetown University Campus Plan recently rejected a plan to construct a similar venue on campus.
The Georgetown obsession with Hoya men’s basketball won’t end anytime soon, regardless of transportation difficulties. The university should recognize this strong fan support by striving to make it as easy as possible to cheer on the dear old Blue and Gray.
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Nov 17 2009 at 9:21 a.m.
I would rather see GUSA subsidize Metro fares for all season ticket holders. Here's why:
1) Having a direct shuttle to the Verizon Center will be wholly inefficient. It takes around 15 minutes with no traffic to get from campus to the Verizon Center. With the amount of students that would need to embark and disembark, that number realistically jumps to 20. If you add traffic, the number goes to at least 25-30 minutes. Even if you run every GUTS bus that Georgetown possesses, the number of students that would be transported would not be enough to offset the actual problem of getting students to the game.
2) Subsidizing Metro fares makes it possible for students to use either the DuPont or the Rosslyn shuttles to make it to games. The editorial states that one line switch needs to occur for fans to get to the Verizon Center, but that is untrue. The Red Line (DuPont) services the VC directly and the Blue/Orange Line (Rosslyn) serves Metro Center, which is a short 5 minute walk away from the Verizon Center. Thus, the inefficiencies that would exist by routing all shuttles to the Verizon Center (an increased time, less students actually getting to a convenient point of transportation), would be erased. The cost for students would be the same, but the inconvenience would not be.
3) This proposal isn't making perfect the enemy of the good, it is making good the enemy of the bad. GUTS buses barely run on time as it is, and this proposal doesn't remedy this fact. The increased transfer time, plus the amount of traffic that occurs after the games will inevitably lead to delays and add on those extra hours that the editorial seeks to eliminate. Furthermore, instead of piggybacking onto a service that the main campus already provides (GUTS buses to Rosslyn and DuPont), this proposal inconveniences not only students, but also anyone who would have been using the GUTS bus for a reason other than going to a game.
I would urge GUSA to at least explore the possibility of working with the Georgetown administration to subsidize Metrocards. They're more efficient and would allow for Georgetown students to set a schedule for when they want to make the trip over to see the Hoyas.
Nov 17 2009 at 11:09 a.m.
I would rather see all students who are too lazy to travel 3 miles be expelled.
Take the Circulator if you want to get downtown by bus. See how long that takes you.
Nov 17 2009 at 9:05 p.m.
Remember: these are the delicate flowers who:
- never were allowed to take their bikes for a spin without supervision,
- never played a pickup game in the street or in a park,
- never had a paper route,
- were driven to and from each well organized play date, soccer practice, and tutoring session,
- were told that they were special.
Big surprise that the metro presents a genuine challenge.
Nov 18 2009 at 9:41 a.m.
I agree wholeheartedly with Mac.
The idea of subsidizing Metro cards was a good idea when the Athletic Department did it many seasons ago, and as a current Junior, I was disappointed after my freshman year when the subsidy was dropped as a cost-saving measure.
Buses would be nice if the DC traffic situation wasn't so bad and if there were infinite buses to move the students to and from the games, but I agree 100% with Mac's suggestion. If GUSA or the Athletic Department could work on a way to subsidize metro fare for students with season tickets, the students could get to and from the games on their own schedules and with a lot less congestion and confusion.