Get rid of the cars!

Published on 02/04/2002 Daily Egyptian (SIUC)

My niece talked me into going to her high school Friday and speaking to her class about my Navy career. I was flattered at first she would ask - thinking she was that proud of me. When I got there, I found out I was homework.

It was Resource Management class, teaching the kids life skills for the real world. Everyone else was handing in reports with a newspaper article stapled to the front. My niece handed in me. What's more, she would have had to do a report a week if she had not arranged for a guest speaker. At least she didn't staple anything to my front.

Chancellor Walter Wendler is working on a real world study of his own. After several car-versus-pedestrian accidents this year, he is looking for a way to reduce the mayhem. I'm not sure how much he's looking to pay for the study, but I'm willing to give him an answer for free: eliminate the cars.

SIUC tried lowering the speed limit to 20 miles an hour, and promptly racked up another accident. No surprise actually; the people who breeze through the crosswalks in their cars aren't likely to be worried about such small niceties as a speed limit. They're worried about getting to their next class or back to their apartment before their roommate drinks the last can of Milwaukee's Best. Chances are, the driver was watching for a cop with a radar gun instead of who might be in the crosswalk.

The pedestrians are not much better - someone needs to let them know that a crosswalk is not a bullet-proof vest. There are a lot of careful, perhaps justifiably nervous pedestrians on campus who watch the traffic, and either wait for an obviously attentive driver (like a cop) or no traffic at all before venturing into a crosswalk. For every one of those, there are two or three that will blindly step out into a crosswalk, wrapped securely in the knowledge they have the right of way. Even worse, there's likely to be one of those who will actually race a car, knowing that if they get to the crosswalk first, they have the magical right of way. So what can be done?

Eliminate half of the problem. More cars is not the answer; parking is so bad now if we made everyone drive, we'd end up playing bumper cars in the parking lots. Better perhaps to go the other way.

Eliminate all parking inside of Lincoln Drive. We can save some money at the same time by eliminating the need for the proposed foot-bridge over Lincoln Drive at Neckers, as well the expense of putting in speed humps. All we would need inside of Lincoln Drive are a few strategically placed handicapped spaces. The Parking Division could be reduced, saving further money. And anyone parked illegally on campus could be required to forfeit their vehicle. Think of the money we could make at the next police auction.

Of course, this means the parking lots outside of Lincoln Drive are going to become prime real estate. So treat them like that. Lease the individual parking spots for a significant amount per semester and make them assigned parking. Before selling them, make the lessee prove his or her residency, and if they live within a reasonable walking distance of the campus, advise them to get a bike. Again, violators would have their cars towed and auctioned.

Hey, it will work! Eliminate the vehicular traffic on campus and no one can get hit by a car on campus. The money saved through reducing street and parking lot maintenance could be reinvested in more buses for those who are suddenly pedestrians again. And maybe even valet parking for those that pay the price for a premium place to park.