The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Murray State News.
Students in Murray are still having trouble getting used to the new transit system the city has offered. In fact it is not uncommon to hear many complain about a lack of parking while empty busses roll by day after day.
So in an effort to connect with students’ needs, the Murray-Calloway County Transit Authority has started offering later services on Thursday and Friday nights.
Now some may wonder about the overall message MCCTA could be sending. Over here in the newsroom we would like to know, too.
Not because the late-night routes are only on more traditional party nights in Murray, but because we want to know why a service offering later bus routes is only going halfway.
MCCTA is only offering its new service till 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays.
This seems to be a waste of resources. If you want students who are out late on those nights to use the service then why don’t the busses stay out until the bars close? This alone could bring the biggest boom to a service that has been under-utilized for so long.
Murray needs to wake up and realize students in this town drink. Having a bus service go until the bars close will not encourage drinking, but safer methods of reaching their destinations.
So while we applaud the efforts of MCCTA in trying to connect with the needs of the student community, the fact is, this one is a bust.
There is no reason why two extra hours of service could not be added on to the later night routes. All parties involved will benefit.
If MCCTA keeps failing to make these strides there is little hope it will ever retain student riders.