Students frustrated with campus bus delays

The C Bus sat idle on the street shoulder next to the Burger King on College Mall Road. All students accounted for. \nBus driver?\nSophomore Sherry Pate sat in her seat waiting for the driver to return. Ten minutes had passed. He didn't come back. Fed up, about 10 people got off and began walking.\nPate glanced outside. The driver finally appeared, crumpling a silver fast-food sandwich wrapper into a ball and tossing it into the nearby trashcan. \n"I was really angry," she said. "I think it's ridiculous."\nPate's frustration with the buses operating through Bloomington and the IU campus is not unique. \nThe system monitors its drivers by employing supervisors in the street, according to Jim Hosler, manager of the Campus Bus Service. He admits, however, there is not much more the umbrella organization can do. \nKeeping buses on schedule is another problem. Hosler noted the most common grievance is late buses.\n"It's not a taxi service ... we don't come on (a student's) command," Hosler said.\nLate buses trouble senior Scott Norman, IUSA vice president. Still, he sees a bigger dilemma. \n"I am paying for a $158 bus pass for a service that doesn't run well," he said.\nHosler said one of the main causes for the delay in pickup is increased traffic in the city. The size and layout of streets in Bloomington can no longer handle the amount of traffic it receives.\n"We can't go any faster than the vehicle in front of us," Hosler said.\nAccording to the Campus Bus Service Web site, the system is not responsible for delays caused by traffic, street closings or weather. \n"It's not fair," said sophomore Tyler Wantuch. "Students need to get to class on time."\nWith the current system, all city buses, the Stadium Xpress and the Midnight Special are free when students show their ID. All other routes require purchasing a bus pass for $107 for one semester or $158 for a full year.\nRecommendations from the Bloomington Faculty Council Parking Study Committee proposed dropping the need for a bus pass. In its place, the second phase of the mandatory transportation fee paid for by all IU students would be implemented. The fee would increase from $60 to $90. With this increase, the A, B, D and E routes would not require a fare if students supplied a school ID. Students would not have to choose which bus to ride because all buses would essentially be free.\nThe extra funds would go toward improving the entire system. The money would help fund the new Automatic Vehicle Locator scheduled to operate by next fall, Hosler said. The locator uses transponders on buses to send a signal to a satellite. The satellite then sends that signal to a Web-based monitor at the bus service's office.\nWith this system, operators at the Campus Bus Service will be able to monitor where the buses are every one to two minutes, Hosler said. Ideally, real-time coverage will allow the service to respond faster to delays and to fix the problem.\n"But there are no guarantees," Hosler said.\n-- Contact staff writer Brad Keist at bkeist@indiana.edu.