The University of Michigan Central Student Government convened Tuesday evening to discuss the potential for a Campus Connector system as part of Campus Plan 2050 and a budget proposal for the Ann Arbor Tenants Union through multiple presentations.
Geoffrey Chatas, the University’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Susan Gott, the University’s associate director for planning and communication, attended the meeting to give a presentation about the Campus Plan 2050. In this presentation, Chatas specifically focused on the prospect of a U-M Connector system to improve transportation on campus.
“We’ve been looking for a long time for a solution to connect all parts of the campus,” Chatas said. “We’re getting very close to asking the board for people to go out and get bids on an automated transit system. … It would allow us to move you all back and forth in under 10 minutes with incredible predictability, and in a way that could add cars and adjust automatically.”
Gott also spoke about one limitation of the current transportation system in Ann Arbor.
“We have a great bus system that carries a tremendous number of students, but you can only add so many more buses on the roads before congestion and other physical factors in the road network make it difficult to improve mobility by adding additional buses,” Gott said. “That’s really why thinking about different technology has emerged. We really want to think about … what might be more sustainable for us long-term.”
After the presentation, Gott and Chatas opened the floor for questions from the CSG Assembly. Rackham student Erin Neely, who is running as a Rackham Assembly candidate in the 2024 CSG elections, brought up potential concerns with a plan aiming to be accomplished in 2050.
“This is Project 2050, and I’m pretty sure most of us are going to be gone by 2050. So what can we do until the connector is built to improve transportation?” Neely asked. “There is a sustainability concern with simply adding more buses … so it’s a delicate balancing act.”
Chatas said the plan will be completed in stages, so its impact can be evaluated over time.
“The companies that we’re working with so far are telling us (it will be) five years from getting from the start to the first vehicles running, so our hope is to have that done in the next five years and then we can talk about how to manage it,” Chatas said.
After concluding the discussion, CSG opened the floor to its second presentation of the night, which came from the AATU.
AATU members Nathan Kim and Zackariah Farah spoke on a budget proposal for their organization to expand its operations. The speakers brought up the historic relationship between CSG and the AATU, recalling how CSG previously provided funding to the AATU to advance their shared goal of creating a stronger tenant community in Ann Arbor.
Kim and Farah said the organization had already had many successes through volunteer work since rebooting in August 2023 after an almost 20-year hiatus, but needs additional funding to fully build back. Kim said with more funding, they would prioritize transitioning away from a solely volunteer organization to having a paid staff member to organize union activities.
“The responsibilities include someone who firstly wants to lead and coordinate organizing … to help us develop that initial structure,” Kim said. “Secondly, we want to build relationships with other organizations. Third, we want to identify and pursue pathways to long-term funding. We want to create an infrastructure for long-term sustainable spending money.”
Daily Staff Reporter Brock McIntyre can be reached at brockmc@umich.edu.