What kind of effect do you think the Purple Line will have on UMD housing?
This is a picture of University Club, one of the many off-campus apartment complexes open to students. Will the creation of the purple line make it easier for students to move off campus and still be able to get to campus easily?
Currently, the UMD shuttle system provides transportation from most all-student apartments, like University Club, the View, the Towers, and Courtyards. Yet lately there have been quite a few complaints about the crowdedness and infrequency of these shuttle buses.
Obviously, the purple line will not necessarily have stops near every single unit of off-campus student housing, but there are quite a large number of proposed stops.
This could potentially lead to the development of more off-campus housing near designated purple line stops. The purple line would hopefully be more reliable and timely than the UMD shuttle buses, yet it would cost more.
What are some of the negative effects that the purple line could have on UMD housing?
What are the positives?
3 comments:
Again, I think that the university has a good and reliable transportation system. The fact that I can stumble onto a bus at 3 in the morning and know that it will take me off-campus to my apartment or house is kind of amazing. This can be a dangerous place to walk around drunk at night, and I think that the university accounts for that by the extensive bus system. Yeah, they're crowded sometimes but would it be better if those students were wandering around on their own? I don't mind being crammed on a bus if it means that I will get home quickly and safely. And the buses do hit up most of the off-campus areas. The only one I'm unsure of is the area off of Metzerrott and 193 on the north side of campus. If the Purple Line went to the off-campus housing, I don't think that as many students would take it, because they would have to pay. Also, the metro doesn't run that late, especially on weekdays, and it's not like WMATA is going to keep the Purple Line running later than the others just because it runs through campus. I would be seriously disappointed if in constructing the Purple Line, the university decreased its bus routes - it would leave many students without a free ride, and they would probably just walk instead, creating potentially dangerous situations. Also, DOTS notoriously offers the highest-paid jobs on campus, and if less buses ran because of the Purple Line, many students would lose jobs and needed income. I think that the bus routes are fine, efficient, and well-used, and do not need to be replaced by a more complicated, more expensive alternative.
With the current situation of an overflow of students, there will be more off-campus housing. UMD is already creating an East Campus.
The purple line will help depending on how far the off campus housing is. However, the two problems will be students paying for the card to get on the metro everyday, and the problem of having to close Campus Drive.
The traffic is going to be horrendous and will be a huge hassle for commuters.
I think the purple line is a winner. 1 in every 5 students is from Montgomery County. Hopefully this line will let more students live at home. If that happens, maybe housing will be easier to find around here. Also, with the purple line, more people can move to other nearby cities, like Riverdale or Hyattsville or something.
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