If the trend cannot be reversed, one of the six buses that now carry faculty, staff, and a few students to and from campus every workday will be dropped. The buses serve Mill Valley, Greenbrae, San Anselmo, Fairfax, San Rafael, Novato, Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa. Scheunstuhl estimates the cost of coming by car would be triple that - counting tolls, parking, wear on your car, gas, and increased insurance. And not counting aggravation. The advantages to commuting by bus are many, he says.
Riders can sleep, read, or converse with their neighbors during their trip.
There are no parking fees or bridge tolls to pay, and part of the monthly fee may be a pre-tax savings for participating employee categories. Nursing student Juliette Marrin agrees. I read, sleep, do homework, she says. It s a great way to get in and out of the city and the schedule works. The commute club was organized in February 1971, by postdoc George Ellman and planner Bryan Chapman, who chartered a bus driven by Chuck Follard.