Campus, city bus may combine stats

IU Campus Bus Service and Bloomington Transit are looking to unify their ridership statistics in an attempt to increase state and federal funding for both organizations.

“There is interest on both Bloomington Transit and IU’s behalf toward possible unification,” said Lew May, general manager of Bloomington Transit. “The goal being that there may be some potential to realize additional state and federal funds.”

Campus Bus Service recently announced a reduction in services for the 2008-09 school year to balance a budget that did not increase enough to cover rising fuel costs, among other things, according to an IU press release. Bloomington Transit has made a proposal to reduce some services to also cover rising fuel and other costs, according to a Bloomington Transit press release. Adding Campus Bus Service ridership numbers to Bloomington Transit’s numbers would make Bloomington Transit eligible for more grant money if this combination is approved by the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Bloomington Transit receives state and federal funding based on the number of riders it carries each year in addition to revenue from bus fares and from IU for providing campus-oriented service, said Kent McDaniel, executive director of IU Transportation Services.

Bloomington Transit currently has 2.8 million riders, May said. IU Campus Bus Service had 3.3 million riders last year, but it is not eligible for the ridership-based state and federal funding Bloomington Transit receives, McDaniel said.

Despite last year’s 3.3 million riders being the most Campus Bus Service has ever recorded, service for the 2008-09 school year has been decreased to balance what Operations Manager Perry Maull called “the worst budget I have ever had to put together in over 30 years of doing these.”

Campus Bus Service does not charge bus fares and is funded primarily by the student transportation fee, which increased by 2.8 percent for the 2008-09 school year, Maull said. This is about a $108,000 increase, but it is not enough to account for rising fuel costs and maintenance for an aging bus fleet, he said.

In an attempt to increase revenue, the Campus Bus Service is considering a contractual agreement with Bloomington Transit that would give it funding for performance it has been providing, McDaniel said. Campus Bus Service and Bloomington Transit would still be two separate organizations, but they would appear to be one statistically under this arrangement. Funding would flow through Bloomington Transit because they are the eligible recipient, McDaniel said.

May said he wants both organizations to come to an agreement as soon as possible, and he’s hoping they will reach one by 2009. But even though both organizations want to come to an agreement soon, it won’t be easy.

“A lot of hard discussion has to occur on details,” May said. “I don’t know what shape and form the agreement will take over the next year to year and a half.”

If Campus Bus Service and Bloomington Transit can reach an agreement, they will make a proposal that must be approved by the Indiana Department of Transportation, McDaniel said.

Opposition for the proposal could come from other cities in Indiana, McDaniel said.
“If Bloomington takes more money out of the pot, there’s less for everyone else,” McDaniel said.