Students on the University of Wisconsin campus have to deal with transportation in one form or another. Whether by cars, bikes or their feet, students have to find a way to get around. Many students say driving and parking on campus may be one of the hardest things they do.

“I hate driving on campus, its expensive to park, and time consuming too,” UW senior Tiffany Pope said. “I live on the East side, and I try to take the bus as much as I can, but it’s not very convenient.”

Pope complained the bus doesn’t stop by her house very often, so she is required to wake up early and stay on campus later than planned in order to stay on schedule with the bus. According to Pope, there are times when the bus doesn’t stop at all for her.

“This morning I was 11 minutes early to catch the bus, but it was early so I started waving my hands at it, trying to get it to stop, but it just drove by. I ended up having to drive because I couldn’t wait for the next one and I wasn’t sure it would stop,” Pope said.

Parking is another complaint Pope had. She said it costs too much for her to park on campus, about 80 cents an hour for the whole day. Pope said either new parking should be added near campus, the prices should go down or the university should give students who live far away a parking permit.

City officials have plans to build a commuter train system from Middleton to East Towne, with stops downtown on the way. According to transportation planner Dave Trowbridge, an engineer for the City of Madison, the trains will be much like train cars. Trowbridge said hopefully the cars will be up and running in five years.

“So far the project has been approved for further engineering and environmental analysis. No funding yet, but that is typical of these types of projects. Once it gets funding it could take off in a short time and possibly be done relatively quickly,” Trowbridge said.

The project is going to be beneficial for all types of people, Trowbridge said.

“We are looking for people who pay a lot for parking and want an alternative to the car. The train would be comparable to a car because it would work outside of congested areas,” Trowbridge said.

Car use may be increasing around campus, according to Arthur Ross, the Madison pedestrian and bicycle coordinator He said car use is going up all over the nation, so it is probably going up here as well.

Ross said that there are programs around campus to help keep the number of cars down. One is Bikes on the Bus, a program which outfits busses with bike racks so people can bring their bikes with them on the bus. He credited the university’s bus-pass program for students as another alternate to driving.

Some students, including Sean Schutten, are happy just to walk. Schutten lives about a mile and a half away from campus and said he takes the bus sometimes but that he prefers to walk as much as he can.

“If it’s a nice day I will walk. I like the sounds of the city and the fresh air is refreshing. Plus it’s exercise,” Schutten said.

Ross said pedestrians and vehicles should not have difficulties co-existing but instead must learn how to get along in the space they have.

“It’s not about cars versus pedestrians; it’s about courtesy and consideration,” Ross said. “We are all trying to use the same space and get to where we are going. There are rules people should follow to make sure they are safe, and people need to think about how their actions effect themselves and others.”