3-year bus plan undergoes change

The "three year bus plan," which lets students board all Bloomington Transit buses and the IU Stadium Express by showing their student ID, entered its final phase-in year this semester. \nBut University transport and IU Student Association officials say they hope to add more services for students in the coming years.\nThe bus plan was an IUSA initiative, introduced in August 2000, aimed at reducing congestion on campus and providing off-campus students a way of getting to classes and around town at the expense of a fixed transportation fee. \nThe initial plan was to introduce a "universal bus pass," which would make all IU and BT buses accessible to students. \nBut cost prevented implementation of the program, officials realized early in the process. Students would have had to pay double the amount they currently pay for the transportation fee -- around $30 per semester. \nSo the Midnight Special and Stadium Express routes were added instead over the last three years, said University Transportation Director Maggie Whitlow. \nDespite the bus plan not turning out as expected, Lew May, general manager for BT, said the program has shown considerable progress.\n"We're very happy with the success of the plan," May said. "There's been a continual upward trend in ridership growth."\nMay added that BT had experienced some of the heaviest days in the company's history during the first week of classes, with an average of 14,000 students using buses each day.\n"We've never exceeded that before and ridership is up 7.5 percent for the first three weeks of the school year," he said.\nA number of old BT buses will be replaced with new ones and "bio-diesel" fuel, which allows for a cleaner burn, will also be introduced, May said.\nWhitlow said she hopes the program is fully realized in the end. \nIUSA President Casey Cox also expressed hope for the plan in the future.\n"I imagine it will be fully implemented in the next couple of years," he said. "It's come this far, so why not go ahead and phase it in completely."\nIUSA said it is looking into improving the efficiency of the Midnight Special, which runs Thursday through Saturday and stops at various places on and off campus. The service has experienced problems since its inception, with students complaining that buses weren't making all the stops or arriving on time, but Cox said these problems are being addressed. \n"One of our big issues is expanding on the Midnight Express," Cox said. "Bloomington is a social community and I think the University has an obligation to provide safety for its students"