Ole Miss students will have more options this year as far a transportation goes.
The O.U.T commission of Oxford, as well as the Ole Miss Associated Student Body, has been working hard to relieve the overcrowding of parking and to provide more transportation options for students.
“We are trying to change the culture of our campus to more pedestrian-friendly,” Cory Washington, director of transportation, said.
Although the parking problem has not been eliminated, the ASB has been working with the O.U.T commission to lessen the impact of such a large incoming freshmen class.
O.U.T buses will make periodic trips to and from the South Lot, where more student parking will be available. This will better utilize this parking space while ensuring that students that park there won’t have to walk too far to get to class.
“The O.U.T bus is a great investment because it’s energy efficient and alleviates the parking burden on campus,” Ariel Rodgers, a junior at Ole Miss, said.
Some students staying on and off campus this past summer may have noticed some of the routes the O.U.T Bus took during the year were not being offered, but they will all be in effect during the school year said Alderman Ulysses “Coach” Howell.
“Hopefully more and more students will use the O.U.T buses, so that we can cut down on the traffic,” Howell said. “There are also new buses being put on routes to numerous destinations.”
The O.U.T buses will have five routes this year: the blue, green, orange, red, and yellow routes. The O.U.T buses have transfer points at public venues, where riders can get on and off and switch buses free of charge.
These transfer points will be in places like the Student Union, Walmart and the Square. Students who do not have vehicles or those who just want to stay “green” will have a safe and clean mode of transportation.
Students that live off campus will have the opportunity to utilize O.U.T. as well. The O.U.T buses have stops at apartment complexes around the community, such as the Exchange, The Links, Brittany Woods and Lafayette Place.
The blue bus route will begin in downtown Oxford on the Square, at 6:10 a.m. It will circulate through town, with stops at Walmart and the Student Union.
The red route will also begin in downtown Oxford, at the Square, and stop at Belk and Azalea Gardens.
The green route starts at 7:00 a.m. and will stop at the Exchange, the Mississippi Department of Transportation parking lot and the Student Union.
The yellow bus route will begin at 7:26 a.m. at the Student Union and will service the Tad Smith Coliseum, Hawthorne and Campus Walk.
The orange route bus will begin at 6:58 a.m. to Walmart and The Links.
The buses stop at multiple other destinations, and circulate every 10 to 30 minutes.
University of Mississippi students and faculty do not have a riding fare as long as they have their Ole Miss identification cards, and any other patron will be charged a maximum $2 riding fee.
More information about O.U.T. bus routes can be found on the City of Oxford website.