| Author | Message | ||
     Taylor M Citizen Username: Anotherusername Post Number: 434 Registered: 8-2004 |
sheena- Why don't the students walk to the Village? It isn't all that far from the campus... | ||
| Taylor M Citizen Username: Anotherusername Post Number: 435 Registered: 8-2004 |
e roberts- Or maybe it was a lack of money? Maybe SHU just didn't want to spend the money on the service anymore? Why should they, when they can get the South Orange tax payers to pay for it? | ||
| e roberts Citizen Username: Wnwd00 Post Number: 348 Registered: 3-2004 |
personally i am with you taylor, i feel this is a seton hall university issue and if there is a groundswell of student support as sheena indicates then maybe the university should spend some of the money it has saved by not paying taxes and not donating any funds or equipment to south orange emergency services that seton hall freely uses and sometimes abuses, to put the shuttle back in servie, promote it and make it convenient for students to use to get back and forth to the village. also sheena not every issue in south orange must involve seton hall. the jitney is one of them because as mr rosner has indicated several times it is funded with a grant provided by new jersey transit to move people from the community to the train station during rush hour to avoid worsening the already terrible parking situation at the train station. the grant is not meant to move people into the downtown and it is not meant in any way to improve the SHU parking situation. | ||
| Sheena Collum SHU Citizen Username: Sheena_collum Post Number: 16 Registered: 4-2005  |
Re: "shu used to have a service called the "shuttle" with several passengar vans however I believe it was suspended in 2001 or 2002 due to a lack of ridership" --> I will have you an answer by Monday once I confer with our administraton Re: "the grant is not meant to move people into the downtown and it is not meant in any way to improve the SHU parking situation" Actually, I would have to disagree. According to the "South Orange Application to New Jersey Transit" Section II. Program Administration and Implementation "Including Seton Hall as an off-hours stop will bring students and faculty to the downtown stores and restaurants, as well as the trains" I don't think I need to further elaborate on that matter. Paperwork is hard to dispute. On a sidenote, I can understand that some "village people" are upset with SHU regarding different issues. But please do not continue to take out the frustrations on the students. I'm not interested in entertaining a battle between SHU v. S.O. --> it's really getting old. Many of you tend to stereotype everyone within the gates of SHU. As I've said time and time again, for us to get anywhere we need to be solution oriented. "Why can't students walk downtown?" Um - why don't residents walk downtown? Possibly ban all forms of transportation? Those suggestions don't work. I wouldn't expect any resident outside our gates to have to do that. So let's be considerate of each other's needs. On a final note, as I mentioned before, I will be serving SHU as the student body president for the next year. Those students are my #1. I will always speak in the capacity of what I think is beneficial to them. So I look forward to a good spirited debate and hope both our sides will be able to give a little. I think you people are most wonderful! This whole MOL (SOOL for us) is quite impressive. Looking forward to more responses. | ||
| Washashore Citizen Username: Washashore Post Number: 228 Registered: 4-2003 |
Sheena: I have not been following all of the debate or all of your own personal posts. However, reading the last one you wrote on Ap 23 compels me to say "Thank you for your sincerity and intelligence. Next year under your leadership may well see a positive breakthrough between the town and the students. Thanks for your interest and commitment". | ||
| Eliot Spitzer Supporter Username: Doublea Post Number: 1025 Registered: 3-2003 |
sheena - Thank you for checking with the adminstration to see what happened to the shuttle. e roberts said it was discontinued due to lack of service. My understanding is that it was the money. Let's see what response you get from the admistration. I think there is something to be learned here. It appears that you weren't aware of the fact that SHU had a van/shuttle service in the past. (I realize you have to get confirmation on this.) And so you were taking the position that it is South Orange's responsibility to see that SHU students can be transported downtown. You have recognized elsewhere that South Orange has some of the highest taxes in the state. All that some(most) South Orange taxpayes want is for SHU to pick up a little more of its share of expenses. The transportation issue is a good case. Why should South Orange pick up the expense when SHU decided it no longer wanted to pick up the expense, or there wasn't enough interest? This forum can serve as a useful dialogue. I'm sure that many of us are impressed with you. You are a credit to SHU and SHU should be proud. In the same vein, some of us have pointed out what the facts of the SHU deal with SOPAC are. We've pointed out that this is really a business deal. Nothing wrong with that. But from my reading of some online comments in various links, I get the impression that most SHU students think this was just a gift from SHU to the Village of South Orange. Once again, thanks again for coming on MOL. And by the way, my wife received one of her graduate degrees from SHU, and is a contributor. | ||
| Old and Gray Citizen Username: Pastmyprime Post Number: 73 Registered: 2-2005 |
I think Sheena is too young to remember the SHUttle program. Which had a stop at the main train sta. downtown. Why did SHU stop that...probably because the didn't want to fund the service. As I assume they will not want to fund a jitney route, unless its heavily subsidized by the Village or the Parking Authority. | ||
| Jeff DuBowy Supporter Username: Jeffd Post Number: 80 Registered: 11-2003 |
The current Jitney route services SHU. SHU can board at the SO Train station or the SHU housing on Valley St.. The Jitney stops at the West gate of SHU on SO Ave. Current use by SHU students and personnel is quite minimal. It is my undersatnding, maybe 2 to 3 people a day from SHU use the jitney service. Jeff www.jeffdubowy.com | ||
| Sheena Collum SHU Citizen Username: Sheena_collum Post Number: 18 Registered: 4-2005 |
Well I didn't want to speculate about the SHUttle program until I had confirmation but I am aware of it. I "believe" that the reason it doesn't run was there was more faculty who used it than students at the time and the money to service it was coming from "student affairs" so it was cut off. "The current Jitney route services SHU": At what time/times? And is that a reasonable time that students and/or faculty would be using it? | ||
| Jeff DuBowy Supporter Username: Jeffd Post Number: 83 Registered: 11-2003 |
The schedule is available from the SO Parking Authority. The SHU stops were added to the current morning and evening commuter stops servicing Tuxedo Park & Montrose. | ||
| Taylor M Citizen Username: Anotherusername Post Number: 442 Registered: 8-2004 |
Sheena- In regards to the SHUvan you said "there was more faculty who used it than students at the time and the money to service it was coming from "student affairs" so it was cut off." So you're saying it's okay for South Orange to pay for these services, through a grant the town was given? Give me a break... As for walking, many people move to South Orange and Maplewood because of the train. And many of those who take the train WALK to the stations. There are a lot of residents in the SHU area on both sides of the Ave who WALK to the Village. There are a lot of people in the Montrose area who WALK to the park. If the students don't want to walk, take the bus! It stops right outside the gates. It works both ways. The Unv. needs to start GIVING to the town; instead of the town giving to SHU. True, SHU paid for the scoreboards, but there were strings attached. True SHU contributed some toward, the PAC, but again with strings attached. | ||
| susan1014 Supporter Username: Susan1014 Post Number: 548 Registered: 3-2002 |
Sheena, Very happy to have you engaged here. Having Seton Hall in town is an asset to our community because of the people that it brings to town, as students and faculty. However, having Seton Hall in town is also a burden, given our lack of other major ratables to cover the costs of providing services. Historically it doesn't seem to have given much back in the eyes of many townpeople. Maybe that is just a perception -- if so, the university needs better public relations. (the only piece of "Seton Hall" mail that I have received in nearly 10 years here is an invitation to a used piano sale...need I say more.) Most of us don't see much of Seton Hall. For me it is the following: 1. The nice barristas and servers at local restaurants. 2. The complaints about student disturbances in off-campus housing near the University. 3. The car full of students (with Seton Hall license plate holder) repeatedly throwing trash out of their car windows onto South Orange Avenue in front of me the other day. I try to love having the University here, but it is hard some days. I think that jitneys to downtown focused on student needs (in terms of timing and pickup locations) need to get majority funding from campus sources. If it isn't worth subsidizing from student fees, then it probably isn't worth subsidizing from town taxpayers either. | ||
| Eliot Spitzer Supporter Username: Doublea Post Number: 1029 Registered: 3-2003 |
Clarification on the jitney issue from Eric, Howard and John would be helpful. Sheena says in another post that the additional jitney service to SHU mentioned by ADE would be done only with funding from the business community, funding from SHU and grants -not with taxpayer money. Can you confirm? | ||
| Old and Gray Citizen Username: Pastmyprime Post Number: 74 Registered: 2-2005 |
CMonty...Central Av is in Orange and East Orange? There is no Central Av in South Orange unless its a secondary name like Kroll Plaza/Village Plaza?...did you possibly mean Centre Street? | ||
| cmontyburns Citizen Username: Cmontyburns Post Number: 821 Registered: 12-2003  |
My mistake. I am forever confusing Centre Street and Central Ave. I was indeed referring to Centre Street -- the one that more or less dead ends into the main entrance of Seton Hall. | ||
| Eliot Spitzer Supporter Username: Doublea Post Number: 1030 Registered: 3-2003 |
In the April 21,2005 issue of The Setonian, there is a box area titled "Seton Hall platform supported by Lines A-D-E." One of the bullet points is "Add a minimum of four jitney stops at the university." John Pogony is quoted as saying "I am proposing an immediate start of a regular all-day jitney, back and forth from campus." How does ADE propose to pay for this service? There's been a lot of talk about tranparency and open government from all parties in this campaign. Can you answer this? Thank you. | ||
| Howard Levison Citizen Username: Levisonh Post Number: 228 Registered: 1-2004  |
First let us go back into the history of the Jitney service. I have provided below a link to excerpts of Jitney Grant Request documents that I obtained under an OPRA request. <www.howard-levison.com/jitney_document_excerpts.pdf> These are the original grant requests and define the services to be provided - see page two for detail that include "Seton Hall as an off-hour stop will bring students and faculty to the downtown stores and restaurants, as well as the trains." Page three indicates - "Will your shuttle serve any other employer sites? Answer: Yes ... SETON HALL UNIVERSITY" Page four is a letter from Msgr. Harms supporting the service for SHU. So I think we can put to rest the question of intent to provide SHU Jitney service. The larger question is the cost benefit. I am aware that the Business community will financially support the Jitney, as seen by the documents there are Grant funds available and a user fee for service. There are other proposals such as providing parking decks outside of the business district for medium to long term parking serviced by Jitney's for: - Local Business employee parking - Commuters - Students - SOPAC / Movie Theater Jitney service will be an integral part of the Master Plan. Jitney's provide the linage between the elements of the community. VOTE Lines ADE Howard Levison www.howard-levison.com John Pogany www.johnpogany.com Eric DeVaris www.ericdevarisfortrustee.com | ||
| Eliot Spitzer Supporter Username: Doublea Post Number: 1031 Registered: 3-2003 |
So there is no intent to ask the business community and/or SHU for funding - is this correct? John's statement in The Setonian says he will be proposing immediate all day jitney service to campus - will the S.O. taxpayers be paying for this? How much do you estimate this additional all day service to campus will cost. | ||
| Howard Levison Citizen Username: Levisonh Post Number: 229 Registered: 1-2004 |
My post above #228 has a bad link and should be: <http://howard-levison.com/jitney_document_excerpts.pdf> | ||
| Eliot Spitzer Supporter Username: Doublea Post Number: 1034 Registered: 3-2003 |
My understanding is that SHU was asked to contribute to the funding and it declined. Do you know if this was the case? In any event, it seems that you are proposing that the jitney service to SHU be taxpayer funded. I'm sorry, but I can't agree with you on this. I'm only one vote, and had intended to vote for some of your ticket. You know my feeling about the tax burden in the Village. This issue has a significant role in my vote. |
