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Volume 95 | Issue 48
Stormy 73° / 59°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Denton public transportation hits record high BY DREW GAINES
Contributing Writer T he Denton Cou nt y Transportation Authority saw record ridership in March, and more riders are expected to board the public buses in the months and years to come. “Since the two years I have been driving with DCTA, I can see nothing but growth,” bus driver Danny Brinkley said. Brinkley and his fellow drivers are transporting more students and commuters than ever before. Last month, Denton Connect provided 29,289 passenger trips, enough to break the previous record set in September 2009 by 346 trips. “Basically the cost of parking, the cost of fuel, it’s just getting to be more economical, especially during the tough economic times right now,” Brinkley said. Boris Palchik, senior planner for DCTA, attributes the growth to improved services. The transit service has added more bus stops, routes, shelters, signage and improved schedules that make the service more consistent and accessible, he said. Most of the improvements have been in Lewisville, where the DCTA reported a 48 percent increase in ridership in March,
compared to the same month last year. However, similar improvements are starting to take root in Denton. “We routed more service through the campus areas at both [TWU and UNT],” Palchik said. “There are more frequent service, decreased wait time and more buses to more destinations.” Dow ntow n Da l la s ha s become a popular destination for commuters as well, with the DCTA extending trips to the city’s West End via the Commuter Express line. Brinkley’s 40-mile trips to and from the Dallas hub have been packed. “The majority of them are residents or business people that live in Denton or Lewisville and work in downtown Dallas. Then there are UNT students who catch a bus in downtown Dallas and come up here,” Brinkley said. Those passengers that hitch a ride in Dallas to come to Denton are what the DCTA is calling “reverse commuters.” Rather than heading into the city for work or school, these commuters are leaving Dallas for Lewisville, Carrolton or Denton. A good proportion of them are students, says Palchik, though all demographics have been increasing.
PHOTO BY DREW GAINES/PHOTOGRAPHER
DCTA bus driver Danny Brinkley welcomes aboard UNT students and employees on his route to Discovery Park. The transportation authority reported record ridership numbers for the month of March and the service is expected to grow, officials said. Shannon Robinson, a social work senior, has used the DCTA Connect line for two years. She boards the Colorado Express route ever y Tuesday and
Thursday to go between school and her home near the Golden Triangle Mall. “I love it. It saves me gas, and I don’t have to pay for parking,”
she said. With the arrival of the A-train to Denton in summer 2011, the DCTA is bracing for more riders and destinations. The rail service
will connect commuters to Carrolton, Lewisville and later to downtown Dallas. “We do expect more growth,” Palchik said.
t wo intercha nges a nd f ive bridges. The lanes will remain open beginning Friday for the qualifying race for the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing “Sprint Cup Series” a nd t he “Ratt lesna ke 150” Automobile Racing Club of America series. The “O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 Nationwide Series” will be Sat u rday, fol lowed by t he “Sa msung Mobi le 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series” on Sunday, which is usually “the largest-attended, singleday sporting event in the state of Texas,” according to the Speedway Web site. “A s a g e s t u r e of ou r continuing support and partnership w it h t he com mun it y, we w i l l suspend a l l la ne closures on t he DF W Connector project to help t he f low of race t ra f f ic,” NorthGate’s deputy project director Jay Knez said in a press release. Race weekends are known for causing major traffic jams,
so UNT posted a message on t he Web site’s ca lenda r of events to notify the communit y, news manager Buddy Price said. “The reminder t hat it is race weekend is reg u la rly posted when major races are scheduled at Texas Motor Speedway,” Price said. “It is posted to remind students, staff and faculty that traffic is expected to be heavier than normal and to plan according ly when commut ing to class, to a job, to home or weekend events, especially bet ween Denton a nd For t Worth.” Dav id Jagneau x, a political science freshman, said he is grateful for the lanes remaining open this weekend because he usually doesn’t drive when there are races. “It’s a ver y good thing. I take [Interstate Highway] 35 all the time,” Jagneaux said. “I don’t want to be waiting a round because of tra f f ic. They need to keep traffic in check.”
Construction stops for expected race traffic Lanes to remain open for Texas Motor Speedway BY LISA GARZA
Senior Staff Writer T he Tex a s Depa r t ment of Public Safety will halt a major construction project today t h roug h Su nday so race fa ns headed to Texas Motor Speedway may not hit as much traffic. NorthGate Constructors, the company working with the department on the $1 billion DFW Connector project, will keep all lanes open to accommodate drivers attending the Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR double-header weekend. The project spans 8.4 miles in Grapevine, Southlake and Irving, doubling the size of the existing highway system around the north Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport entrance. Southbound lanes on State Highway 121 and westbound
PHOTO COURTESY OF RON JENKINS/FT.WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM/MCT
The Texas Department of Public Safety will halt a major construction project today through Sunday. Race fans headed to Texas Motor Speedway may not hit as much traffic for the “O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 Nationwide Series.” The race will be held Saturday, followed by the “Samsung Mobile 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series” on Sunday. lanes on State Highway 114 have been closed on the weekends since February.state “We greatly appreciate the cooperat ion of Nor t hGate
Constructors to suspend the closures to benefit our race fans visiting this week,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said in a press
release. “This move will be extremely valuable in terms of their travel plans.” The project w ill rebuild portions of four highways,
Government seeks maximum penalty for Toyota recall BY K RYSTLE CANTU Staff Writer
T he Nat iona l H ig hw ay Traffic Safety Administration is seeking the maximum civil penalty of $16.4 million for Toyota Motor Corporation. T he ad m i n i s t r at ion i s accusing Toyota of covering up a defect that caused cars to accelerate unintentionally by failing to notify the auto safety agency of the hazard within an appropriate timeframe. Toyota waited at least four months to announce and recall the defect despite knowledge of the potential risk to consumers, according to www.nhtsa.dot.gov. About 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. were recalled in late January, but automakers may have known of the problem as early as late September.
Dane Minor, a manager of Toyota in Hurst, said that most dealers aren’t surprised that Toyota is being levied for the largest fine possible, because of Toyota’s great success as a car manufacturer. “I think they anticipated it,” he said. “ I don’t think it took anyone by surprise. They’re setting precedence on a billforward basis.” The penalty will be the largest brought against an auto manufacturer by the administration. The fine could increase if more defects are found in the government’s ongoing investigation. Toyota received notice on April 5 and was given two weeks to contest or accept the proposed penalty. Cindy Knight, a manager
of Toyota public affairs in Washington, said the company will announce its decision Monday, the deadline for a response. She declined to comment until then. Minor said he disagrees with the accusation that Toyota was hiding defects. “I don’t think so personally,” he said. “… Beyond any shadow of doubt, I have no suspicions that that happened in any way, shape or form.” He said he does think that Toyota might have prolonged its reaction because of inexperience. “They were slow to act probably,” he said “They don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to recalls or anything else like a lot of the other manufacturers do.”
Minor said over the last 20 years, Toyota has had fewer than 500 safety recalls, a number he said is lower than the big three — Chrysler, Ford and GM. “That is a big difference,” he said. “[Manufacturing defects are] not something that we deal with on a daily basis. We’ve had less than other manufacturers. We’ve only just had bad orders recently.” He trusts Toyota was and will keep making the right decisions for consumers concerning their PHOTO COURTESY OF MARLIN LEVINSON/MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE/MCT vehicles, Minor said. “You have to trust whoever is The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking the maximum in power of making those deci- civil penalty of $16.4 million for Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota waited at sions and that they’re making least four months to announce and recall the defect despite knowledge of the the right decisions,” he said. potential risk to consumers. Drew Elam, a printmaking senior, said he is now suspi“Chances are it’s not just Hyundai, Honda and Nissan. If cious of other large car manu- one,” he said. “ Maybe other a lawsuit is that huge, you’d be facturers. companies are doing it, too, like suspicious about anything.”