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Trial bus service to link KU, KUMC

A bus service will connect KU's Lawrence campus and the KU Medical Center next month on a trial basis to see if the idea has the potential to become permanent.

The bus trial, sponsored by the School of Engineering, will operate Sept. 2-26 on weekdays. One bus will depart the KU Medical Center in the morning, travel directly to the Lawrence campus and return to Kansas City. The route will be repeated in the late afternoon.

Rides will cost $4 per trip. To ride, individuals must be KU faculty, staff or students and must purchase a punch card in advance. An order form for the card is available at www.bio.engr.ku.edu/businfo. Riders can buy a card for the entire trial period -- 38 rides -- for $152 or any number of rides at $4 each. Bus drivers will not be able to sell passes or accept cash. Passes must be picked up at either 1 Eaton Hall in Lawrence or G019 Murphy Hall at KU Medical Center. Passes are available until Sept. 15, and a photo ID is required at pick up.

Ron Dougherty, chair and professor of mechanical engineering, said the service is only being provided on a trial basis and that results will be analyzed at the end of the trial period to see if it is feasible as an ongoing service.

"People have been saying they needed this for a long time," Dougherty said. "There's been a demand, and it's grown here in the School of Engineering since we officially kicked off our bioengineering program last year, which has increased connections for students and faculty on both campuses. The bus service has to support itself, so this trial is to see if it will work."

Arrival and departure points will be at the bus stop south of Learned Hall in Lawrence and at 39th and Rainbow near Dykes Library on the KU Medical Center campus. For more information, including schedules and ordering information, visit www.bio.engr.ku.edu/businfo or e-mail ku-kumcbusinfo@ku.edu. The bus service is not affiliated with Parking and Transit.

RESEARCH MATTERS:

Rafe Brown, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant of more than $900,000 to comprehensively survey, review and summarize the biodiversity of terrestrial vertebrates and their parasites in the Philippines. Described as a "megadiverse country" and a "global conservation hotspot," the Philippines' biodiversity is largely uncategorized. Brown's project will survey vertebrate and parasite diversity at more than 50 sites throughout the country. For more, www.nsf.gov.