Residents complain about bus company

Bloomington Transit transports more than 2 million IU students and Bloomington residents a year. Buses run everywhere from the IU campus to the south side of Bloomington. But some IU students complain that buses run late or at inconvenient times.\nMauro Pasqualini, a doctoral candidate in history, said he is not happy with the Bloomington Transit because of the late running schedule. He said he has had problems with the bus running late, which makes it hard to keep to his schedule.\n"The company does not respect the time table," Pasqualini said. "Some times they are 15 or 20 minutes late. I would say that twice in the week, I have problems because the buses are late." \nJoe Lilly, operations manager for Bloomington Transit, said there are many reasons for the buses running late.\n"The biggest thing is the traffic in Bloomington," Lilly said. "That is the basic reason why we are late." \nLilly said with the large amount of passengers Bloomington Transit carries over a year, the compliant level is acceptable. \n"We try to adjust as best we can and the complaint level has actually improved from last year," he said.\nValeria Manzano, a Ph.D. student in the history department, said she has missed some of her appointments because the bus was early to the stop.\nLew May, Bloomington Transit general manager, said there are other reasons why the buses aren't on time.\n"Road construction and weather play a hand in the buses being late," May said. \nLilly said the company has adjusted the C Route, which runs to College Mall, University Commons Apartments and to the Main Library, to compensate for the traffic and adhere to the schedule as much as possible.\nMay said the Bloomington Transit Company is planning a unique Global Positioning System program in conjunction with the IU Campus Bus system. \n"This would be a GPS locator system that would enable us to see on a computer screen where our buses are in the city," May said. "This allows us to use the data to improve our time performance and scheduling."\nMay said he expects in the next year to have GPS installed and running on the 1, 2, 4 and 5 routes.\nFor passengers, Lilly said there are ways they can help out in order to arrive places on time.\n"If it is during a rush hour time I recommend that you call the company and ask if the buses are running on time," Lilly said. "Don't try and schedule your day so close to the bus schedule, meaning leave earlier than usual."\n-- Contact staff writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.