SMART summer changes should have little biz impact

Starkville sees a decrease in population during Mississippi State University’s summer months and one way to track the expected economic impact is through attendance on the city’s public transit system.

Director of Parking and Transit services at MSU Jeremiah Dumas said ridership for Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit (SMART) is at its highest during the spring and fall semesters.

Between May 16 and Aug. 14 this summer, SMART has closed most of its campus routes. The closure of routes on campus may highlight which routes Starkville residents use, and what businesses may be most affected.

The more popular routes during the summer are the Boardtown North route, which runs from Walmart to downtown, OCH, J.L. King Park, and Mallory Lane with a few stops between, and the Sportsplex route, which connects the Sportsplex, Lynn Lane and campus.

Many of Starkville’s businesses, such as Walmart, downtown businesses and restaurants, the hospital, and the Sportsplex, are along those routes. Those businesses still see a steady flow of visitors from the SMART routes during the summer months.

“Our city routes also see a slight reduction in ridership because students also use those routes to move around Starkville and to get to campus,” Dumas said. “But it has been encouraging over the last couple of years to watch our city ridership grow in numbers with people who are not affiliated with the university.”

Dumas said of the 750,000 annual riders, 500,000 are on campus routes, and 250,000 are on city routes.

During the fall and spring semester, the most popular SMART routes are the on-campus routes, Dumas said. The most popular while MSU is in session is the Greek route, which runs from Sorority Row and Fraternity Row, and the Central Route, which goes to different dorms across campus, the book store and the coliseum, and the South route, which connects campus to the Wise Center and Scales Park and Ride.

Interim CEO of Greater Starkville Development Partnership Heath Barret said if there are concerns about sales decreasing with student population, residents should remember to support local businesses.

“It is easy to have things shipped to your front door from Amazon, eBay, or something like that, but … let’s keep our money here, locally, let’s support the small business owner,” Barret said. “Of course, things will be wonderful when the students are back for tax dollars purposes, but let’s support each other this summer.”