<p>how easy is it to get around tuscaloosa w/o a car?</p>
<p>This will be the second year that my son has not had a car. He has never had a problem finding a friend who is going to Target or the Mall.</p>
<p>what’s the public transportation like? and how walkable is the city?</p>
<p>Beyond campus, very little and not at all.</p>
<p>My kids rarely need their car when on campus. They report that their car sits for weeks in the parking lot.</p>
<p>The Crimson Ride will take you around the campus, so with that you have access to The Strip and other places along University and Paul Bryant. The Strip has restaurants, fast food, cafes, shops, ice cream shops, etc. </p>
<p>There is also a grocery store (Publix) that is on the Crimson Ride route. Publix is on The Strip. </p>
<p>When my kids do need to go to Target or Walmart (which are farther away), they always take others who don’t have cars. </p>
<p>Many OOS and some instate kids don’t have cars on campus. It’s not a big deal since nearly everyone has a suitemate or friend with a car. </p>
<p>There are also “zip cars” for kids to rent. There are also bikes to borrow for free.</p>
<p>^^^IIRC, there is a small ($10 or so) annual charge for use of the Bama Bikes.</p>
<p>As for public transportation, there is a bus system, but it runs limited hours and is not popular with students. The arrival of new buses in September will improve things, but I wouldn’t currently consider public transportation a viable option unless you had lots of time and wanted a tour of Tuscaloosa. I would highly suggest finding a friend with a car if you wanted to go to Target/Wal-Mart; there’s usually someone going to either place.</p>
<p>I myself consider Tuscaloosa to be very walkable. I’ve walked all along the Strip and to downtown and 15th street. Everything you will normally need is on the Strip and the outlying areas have some additional restaurants. While it is a smaller location, the Publix just off campus carries just about everything food-wise, along with popular brands of toiletries and household goods.</p>
<p>I’d like to see The University expand Crimson Ride to include a bus every hour or so out to McFarland (Midtown Village - Mall area).</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>That would be good, but I can’t see Bama doing that during the busiest school hours…maybe just during evenings and weekends or Friday afternoon thru Sunday night… </p>
<p>however, I think that Midtown and the Mall should subsidize the cost since they are the financial beneficiaries of such a service…and would lessen their parking issues at Midtown.</p>
<p>Personally, I find it hard to resist the urge to go to Target at least every other weekend, but I am blessed to have a car. I agree M2CK that a bus to Midtown and the Mall and a place like Target would probably be welcomed on the weekends. But if you really need food or something, the Strip is definitely close by and teeming with places to eat, shop, and chill. And you can take the bus there if you so choose.</p>
<p>Someone at Bama needs to approach the people at Midtown, Target, and the Mall and figure out some kind of cost-sharing of a tram that could run from Friday afternoon to Sunday night. </p>
<p>There’s no reason for Bama to absorb all the cost. I think we heard that Bama has to pay the company that provides the bus drivers around $60 an hour, so that’s not something Bama would want to just take on itself.</p>
<p>Or perhaps a nominal fee for off campus trips. For under $5 it would still be cheaper than taking your own car.</p>
<p>I think the Friday afternoon to Sunday evening bus is a great idea.</p>
<p>Where is the closest first run theater?</p>
<p>If it’s at the mall with the Penney’s, it would be great to have a bus go there. </p>
<p>I think a bus that goes to Yogurt Mountain would be a big hit as well.</p>
<p>Call the Dean of Students, or the president of the SGA, or Gina Johnson, the Associate Vice President for Auxiliary Services (in charge of Crimson Ride). They don’t have ESP, so they can’t mind-read your good ideas.</p>
<p>LOL…</p>
<p>Then they need to start reading the Bama forum on CC…</p>
<p>That said, I’m sure they’ve heard these same ideas before, but they just aren’t cost effective. </p>
<p>If they only had to send a tram there a couple times a day, then it probably wouldn’t be that expensive, but only having a couple of “runs” wouldn’t work since kids would not all want to go or return at the same time.</p>
<p>I guess this can go in the transport folder…
As far as Arts of Tuscaloosa, is not having a car a real issue for the students? I’m assuming some of the events are off-campus. Finding someone in the class with a car and who coordinates with your schedule may not be an easy answer for a new freshman. From reading some posts I get the impression that they do not go as a class but on their own… input?</p>
<p>I answered on another thread, but I’ll repeat here…</p>
<p>Send an email to the prof with your concerns about car-pool coordination to events and schedule conflicts if events occur while student is in another class. </p>
<p>Prof…Dr. Allen Jones
<a href=“mailto:abjones@bama.ua.edu”>abjones@bama.ua.edu</a></p>