Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to O.U.T. of options, published March 17, 2015.
Mr. Jonathan de Steuben:
The Oxford University Transit system is a quasi-governmental company that delivers cheap transportation services to The University of Mississippi’s students and Oxford residents. You are being less than honest by implying O.U.T. is not providing transportation. To quote you: “I carefully choose the word system because calling it a bus service would imply that a service is actually being done.” While you dislike the quality of service provided, that does not mean O.U.T is not providing a rudimentary transportation service.
I again quote you: “The reason I now avoid the O.U.T. like the plague is because it’s a massive inconvenience, consistently late and tragically stuck in the past while the university moves forward.” You need to define “stuck in the past while the university moves forward.” Most astute observers have noticed Oxford’s growth has outstripped its ability to handle the accompanying traffic and congestion. As a result, the busses online casino often run anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes late. Another thing you are probably not aware of is drivers are required to be a minute or two late at every listed stop and are chastised severely for arriving at a stop early.
The bus drivers operate under the department of transportation, rules and regulations. Under those rules, the drivers have to fit in restroom breaks, lunch breaks, coffee breaks and so on. They have to grab small breaks whenever possible and wherever there is a space out of the flow of traffic, even if it is to have a smoke. To expound on your ridiculous pilot analogy, no one has seen “sky hooks” to hold an airliner in the sky while the pilot wing walks on his smoking break either.
Mr. de Steuben, you offer criticism of O.U.T. and Mr. Biggs, but fail to provide the wisdom to improve either the system or the service. In my opinion, the blame should be widely spread to all the players from past and present city planners, the City of Oxford, The University of Mississippi, the D.O.T. and O.U.T.’s Board of Directors. Perhaps Ron Biggs’ transportation training has been overwhelmed by too many demands by too many masters. No human can please everyone.
Frank Heuser
