VGER: Public Transportation—Greenville, SC

Team Members: Trip Gregory, Bill Manson, Phyllis Martin, George Newby, Jr., Valinda Rutledge, Irv Welling, Marcus Williams

VGER Team members focused their project on studying the issue of public transportation in Greenville County and examining the current Greenville Transit Authority (GTA) transportation system in Greenville. The team conducted a survey to determine the current perception of public transportation in Greenville. They found that an overwhelming majority of those surveyed owned their own form of transportation and had never used GTA for public transportation. Additionally, team members found that even if public transportation was safe and reliable, riders would still not use public transportation. Whereas one main issue surrounding public transportation is race and socioeconomic status, there is a vast array of causes for low participation. In conclusion, VGER team members found that public transportation is a complex issue and factors such as convenience and reliability are large factors in the effectiveness of public transportation.