Transportation Services offers late-night bus runs

After hanging out at the bars or partying on the weekends, many students don't want to walk, drive or spend money on a taxi to get where they need to go. But there is a little-known alternative that only requires a student ID card.\nSince Jan. 11, IU Transportation Services has been working with Bloomington Shuttle to offer students a free late-night bus service. The new service is funded by the transportation fee all students pay, so only a valid student ID card is needed to ride the bus.\n"This new late-night bus program was one of the things that came out of the proposal for a universal bus pas," said Maggie Whitlow, executive director for transportation at IU. "There was a gap in the provision of good bus service in those hours."\nUnder the plan, the new buses run a north and south route -- both of which originate from the Indiana Memorial Union bus shelter on Seventh Street -- and after the first pick-up at 10 p.m., buses cycle past stops every 15 minutes until 3 a.m.\nThe regular bus service stops running at midnight.\nCampus officials said they hope the availability of buses past midnight and more frequent pick-up intervals will provide a safe alternative to walking home in the late night or early morning.\nAccording to the IU Campus Bus Web site, www.iubus.indiana.edu, the north route will run along Kirkwood Avenue, the Courthouse Square, 10th Street, the Main Library, Jordan Avenue, Memorial Stadium and Fee Lane.\nThe south route will cover Kirkwood Avenue, the Courthouse Square, South College Avenue, First Street, South Jordan Avenue, University Apartments, Forest Quad, Willkie Quad, Eigenmann Hall, Teter Quad, Wright Quad and Third Street.\nResidence Halls Association President Jason Dudich, a senior, said the idea of the routes is to "get people from the bar area and downtown home to the apartments and residence halls safely. And it has been serving this purpose."\nIn addition to convenience, administrative officials said they hope the new late-night buses will promote safety and help curtail drinking and driving.\nChris Gourley, president of Bloomington Shuttle, Inc., said the service shows initiative on the part of the administration.\n"This is Bloomington, not Chicago or New York," Gourley said. "The cab service here isn't that great. I think the IU administration is really showing some forward thinking about student safety. To my knowledge, this is the only service of its type being offered by a major university."\nThe service is proving to be so effective in promoting safety, the Bloomington Police Department has asked the buses to extend their hours until 4 a.m., Dudich said. He also said the BPD said the extended service hours would serve these people and perhaps stop some from driving drunk.\n"The bars close at 3 (a.m.), but a lot of times you get people leaving at 3:30 (a.m.) or so," Dudich said.\nKent McDaniel, president of the IU Department of Transportation Services, said proposing the late night service in 1997 was important.\n"People who might be nervous about walking home alone in the dark could now have a safe ride home," McDaniel said.\nWhile the buses are on campus, they will stop at all designated Campus Bus Service stops, according to a press release. When off campus, they will stop at intersections on demand, with consideration for passenger safety and traffic. The buses can be boarded at any bus stop or intersection by simply waving at the driver. They are marked "Bloomington Shuttle" and display "Late Night Bus Service" on the windshield, according to the press release.\nDudich said not many people use the late-night buses, a fact which he attributes to a lack of publicity and advertisement.\nGourley said in the first two weeks of the service, late-night ridership has more than doubled.