MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Abstract:
The phrase “F*** DOTS” is commonly used on campus at the University of Maryland: posted on building walls in the form of stickers, on Reddit, Twitter and other social media threads, and in daily conversation between students, frustrated with having received yet another parking ticket. This anti attitude toward UMD’s Department of Transportation is narrow-minded and fails to see the opportunities and benefits DOTS provides to students. DOTS provides free daily bus transportation and environmentally sustainable transportation options to benefit students and staff. One aspect that seems to fuel the negative attitude towards DOTS is that navigating the Shuttle-UM bus systems can be intimidating for newcomers. NextBus is a free smartphone app that can help campus-goers easily navigate and transport themselves through and around campus.

Reader Response:
Reader’s Profile: students who have received parking tickets in the past or who have struggled to figure out the bus system; they will most likely be skeptical that DOTS has any benefits at all because they cannot see past the “bad” in parking enforcement
Response: Okay, so DOTS encompasses more than just the parking tickets. I didn’t realize that DOTS has different departments within it. Maybe I will download NextBus and try out the bus system, since she will be providing a step-by-step guide on how to ride the UMD buses. I am intrigued to hear about the different beneficial options that I could take advantage of. Besides convenience for students without cars, what are the other benefits for using public transport?

A, I like this focus and WOW, you are working against the powerful pathos of ANGER with the F DOTS context.

NextBUs also helps with wider connectivity, to Metrobus, right?

You could conclude with an idea of rethinking transportation from car only to multimodal -- car, bike share, shuttleUm, MetroBus, Metro, and both Lyft and Uber. MULTIMODAL can fit student flexibility needs. And, lower carbon footprint (not Lyft or Uber as that just shifts the carbon to the driver)

I think your supervisors will like this and perhaps you build some YouTube video messages later. The Office of Sustainability might like to partner, with this work.