Under a clear blue sky on a Thursday afternoon, a group of people are waiting for the bus at the stop off of Walker Avenue. As the cool breeze gently sweeps past them, they do not mutter a word. Their eyes stare off onto the road as they wait for the bus to arrive.
However, for a campus of more than 80 percent commuter students, the means of getting a ride to campus from home and back can be difficult at times. Some of the barriers include current gas prices and simply not having a vehicle.
Earlier this month during the First Friday and Staff Forum with The University of Memphis president Shirley Raines, a suggestion was placed to encourage carpooling at The University. Yesterday morning an e-mail was sent to report the creation of a self-serviced carpool channel in the Spectrum Web portal.
The e-mail said any faculty, staff or student can register as being interested in carpooling and can also view others wanting to carpool. Access to Spectrum can go via http://spectrum.memphis.edu or by clicking on the Spectrum hot link found on The University's main page.
The carpool Web site is available to only faculty, staff and students. Therefore, a U of M ID and password is needed to sign in.
On the Spectrum portal at the bottom right, there is a title which reads "Carpool Information," which explains the links.
The three links connect to current U of M carpool listings, carpool registration and editing and the Memphis Area Transit Authority, which lists bus fares and routes. The carpool listings include who can do a carpool, the area the carpool starting points, which days and times the person is available, the status of the person's availability, comments and contact information.
As far as carpooling, it has been going on for a while on campus, but the portal is a way for the information to reach more people, said Tom Crafton, the director of strategy and administration.
"It lets people know who can and who can't carpool," he said.
Crafton also said the portal lists carpools which range further than just main campus destinations, although it was not originally intended for that purpose. He said some of the listings included carpools up to St. Louis.
"It's designed for a flexible perspective," he said. "We try to consider what people might need."
Mary Ann Camp, the assistant vice president for human resources, said it allows people to see who lives in their neighborhoods and can provide service.
She said, along with providing employee services as well, it gives people the chance to swap out and save money on the rising gas prices as well as reducing the battle for parking spots on campus.
Besides parking and gas prices, Camp said the system also allows for more student interaction.
"People with the same kind of classes can get to know each other better too," she said.
The addition of a carpool listing on the portal has also fared well since its introduction Thursday, Crafton said. He said there are normally about 30 or 40 people on the portal, but since the e-mail was sent out, there has been about an additional 100 people who have visited it.
"At least there has been some interest about it," he said.
The campus has seen this addition as a major benefit, according to the adult commuter service center.
"We deal with commuters and a lot of them have different ways of getting here," said Heather Hampton, an administrative secretary at the commuter service center. "We have tried different ideas, but this is the best one we have had."
Gloria Anderson, a sophomore education major, said although she has her own car, it is still a good addition for others.
"It's a good idea to not only have it, but to have it on a Web site," she said.
