Students adjust to bus changes

Rising fuel prices have forced cuts in the Campus Bus Service routes, frustrating some students who have to make alternative plans, while many don’t even notice a difference.

Campus Bus announced in July that all core routes, including A, B, D, E and X, would reduce services by 19 percent this fall, mostly at night and on the weekends. Some students are still learning about the changes.

At about 4:30 p.m. Sept. 5, about 30 students were waiting in line for the X bus, even though the route stopped running an hour earlier due to the cuts.

Graduate student Dan Shane said on Sept. 3 that the cutback on transportation services has already had an impact on him. Shane rides the bus almost every day, even during the weekends, and said it was already frustrating to ride the bus before the cuts occurred.

But that won’t keep students off the bus, he said.

“I think more students will be riding it because it costs more to fill up a tank (of gas),” Shane said.

Shane said he will probably consider going home earlier or walking about two miles to get home when he misses the bus.

In addition to the increasing price of diesel fuel, operations manager for Campus Bus Perry Maull said cuts are needed to meet an increase in wages along with a 10 percent increase in health care for full-time employees. However, the service only had a 2.8 percent revenue increase, he said.

Maull said it is hard to say how the reduction of bus service hours has affected students this fall.

Sophomore Laura Kyrk said she feels like the bus service has reduced in general.

Kyrk said she would like to go study in the library late at night, but because the Campus Bus stops running at 11 p.m., she doesn’t want to risk walking home late.

Junior Jessica Bram rides the B bus about three times a week, but still feels the effects of the service cuts.

“I feel like they cut back in general,” Bram said. “(There are) not that many buses, and if there is a bus, it’s full.”

Instead Bram has to walk, which sometimes leads to her being late to her classes.
Others like sophomore Ryan Pritkin have started to look for alternatives to riding the bus at night.

Instead of waiting to catch a bus, Pritkin asks friends who have cars to give him a ride.
“I know for a fact that I won’t be able to catch a bus (at night),” Pritkin said.

For other regulars, the decrease in services has had no effect at all.

Senior Curtis Stout said he rides the X bus almost every day and has no complaints about the Campus Bus Service.

“I didn’t notice the difference,” Stout said. “It’s good so far, I guess.”
Students who are part-time

drivers for Campus Bus are feeling the effect of the cuts. Typically, part-time drivers operate the evening and weekend routes, he said.

Full-time drivers are still working 40 hours a week, Maull said. The cutbacks might affect workers more during times when students aren’t on campus and bus services are cut even more, such as during holiday breaks.

Maull said workers should consider planning their vacations during times when bus cuts are most severe.