By Julianna Parker Jones
Cleveland Area Rapid Transit got the word out about Thursday's Dump the Pump initiative.
Norman residents responded to the newspaper ads and posters around town by riding the bus.
"It's very convenient, and I like that they have the free ride day today, 'cause it introduces more people to the bus routes," said Floreta Buzzell, who moved to Norman about two weeks ago. She saw the ads about Dump the Pump and decided to use her day off work to ride around different routes and get to know the city.
There were plenty of incentives to ride the bus Thursday. In addition to free rides all day, everyone who rode the bus got a free T-shirt. Some routes also had live entertainment.
Last year's Dump the Pump saw huge increases in ridership on the Alameda and Main Street routes. Although final numbers weren't in Thursday evening, the same seemed to be holding true for this event.
The 10 a.m. Alameda East route was so full at times riders had to stand. Business people, bus regulars, errand-runners and even families rode the bus.
"Today I heard that it's free, and my children wanted to look around the Norman city," said Kabita Adhikari. She brought her children, Pranshu, 10, and Prangel, 7, on the Alameda route because she doesn't have a car.
Others who hadn't ridden the bus before were ditching their cars in an effort to support the public transportation system.
Councilmember Rachel Butler rode both the Main Street and Alameda routes Thursday morning before driving to work at Oklahoma City Community College.
"It's just great to see all of the people that ride," Butler said.
Norman Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Nashert was on the same bus as Butler and agreed that she enjoyed meeting the people who ride it. She said CART is an asset to the business community.
"It's comfortable. It's air-conditioned on a nice hot day," Nashert said.
It wasn't just new bus riders who enjoyed Dump the Pump Thursday. CART regulars also said they supported the initiative to get the word out about CART.
"I think it's a great idea," said Jerry Wright, who rides the bus to work because he doesn't have a car. "I think the bus system needs to be expanded." He said more people need to know about the bus system and use it.
"That's the only way they will expand it," he said.
CART spokesperson Kris Glenn agreed that the system needs a greater revenue stream in order to expand. That may come from more riders, or just more government funding.
"It would take a dedicated funding source of some sort," Glenn said.
In 2007, CART and the City of Norman came up with the Norman Long-range Public Transportation Plan. It laid out a plan to improve the public transportation system in the city.
One of the most frequent complaints against CART is that its routes are inefficient. If riders have to change buses to get somewhere, they have to go all the way to the South Oval to connect to another route. Also, bus routes are an hour long and only have one bus running at a time.
Glenn said the long-term plan for CART would address both those issues. The bus routes would be linear, taking only 15 minutes to get from one side of Norman to the other along the major thoroughfares. Bus routes would be interlocking to allow for easier transfers. Bus routes also would be expanded to incorporate more of the Norman area, Glenn said.
In order for that plan to become a reality, Glenn said the CART annual budget would need to be increased by $3 million, from $1.5 million to $4.5 million.
Glenn said CART does plan to add a west Norman circulator route in October that will serve the new Healthplex and Embassy Suites. It will be the first to connect directly with another route -- Main Street -- and not the South Oval, Glenn said. It will be paid for through a federal grant.
Until then, local residents are making use of CART's current system.
Carla Sherbon, who lives in east Norman, takes the bus because she no longer has a car.
"It's the only way I can get to work," she said. "I work way up on Robinson."
Julianna Parker Jones 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com
