Team to review bus plan

The University is looking at revamping the universal transportation plan approved by the trustees in 1999, student leaders said. The plan would have provided free bus service around Bloomington to students and added a $21.50 mandatory transportation fee to bursar bills.\nThe University's Transit Team -- composed of student leaders, professional consultants and administrators -- discovered the plan would cost students much more than was originally estimated, causing members of the team to rethink the proposal. \nOriginally, the IU Student Association and Residence Halls Association proposed to combine the Campus Bus Service with Bloomington Transit. After studying the logistics, the committee found the fee would be about $120 a year, much greater than the original proposal's $21.50 fee. Students now pay $20.83 a semester for access to Bloomington Transit buses.\nMany in IUSA and RHA who initially supported universal, prepaid access for both systems have stopped supporting the proposal since learning of the fee increase.\nThe team will decide at a Dec. 6 meeting if it wants to redraft the proposal; the IU board of trustees is expected to vote on that proposal at the beginning of next semester.\nGraduate Student Organization mediator and Transit Team member Sarah Stevens said she hopes the trustees will make a reasonable decision, even if that means leaving the current plan intact.\n"It's a ridiculous amount to have to pay," Stevens said of the proposed $120 mandatory fee. "It's just not feasible."\nStudent trustee Dean Hertzler said he understands it is not an easy task to implement a bus system all students will favor.\n"The difficulty is getting a wide-range bus system that works," Hertzler said. "It's difficult to balance the different concerns of all the students."\nStevens said the cost of a universal, prepaid system would be hefty for students to pay. She said graduate students would be particularly burdened.\n"It's an even bigger fee for graduate students to pay," Stevens said. "Because almost all of them are paying for their schooling by themselves and already have a lot of loans."\nGraduate student John Mersch, math department representative to the GSO, said he supports the way the system works now. He said if administrators asked students their opinions, they would find most are not in favor of the proposed $120 mandatory fee.\n"I was in favor of the current bus plan," Mersch said. "But (the $120 proposal) is far too much money to ask everyone to be spending."\nRHA President Jason Dudich, a senior, said more time and information are needed before a sound decision can be made.\n"We need more accurate data and better information," Dudich said. "Once we have this, then we can act on it; that's the best route to go."\nEigenmann Residents Association President Dietrich Willke, a senior, said he agrees a decision should not be made until there is more information. Willke said students need to be provided with information detailing the proposals and explaining where the mandatory funds would be going.\n"The bus plan proposals being considered affect all students," Willke said. "So, everyone needs to be well-informed about what is going on."\nStevens and Dudich said an important part of the Transit Team is being able to make an intelligent decision to present to the trustees that relies on student input.\n"We need student involvement in responding to the possible options, so that we know what they want to have happen," Dudich said.\nOne way Dudich and Stevens are encouraging students to get involved is by e-mailing transit@indiana.edu. They said this gives students a way to convey their concerns and comments regarding the new bus plan proposals.\n"We need to hear a loud student voice telling us what they want," Stevens said. "What students say will make a difference when we make our recommendation to the trustees"