In August 2005, the Princeton Review ranked IU the No. 6 party school in the nation. Because of IU's flourishing social atmosphere and the concerns that can go with it, both of this year's IU Student Association tickets include safety ideas in their platforms.\nRed Hot's platform includes dollar cabs and CampusAccess payment for cabs. Hoosier's platform lists support for the Interfraternity Council's Social Responsibility Policy proposal. Both tickets say they would like to see more Midnight Special buses.
Midnight Special\nDuring the day, Bloomington Shuttle Service, Inc. drives people to and from the Indianapolis airport. At night, it moonlights as the well-known Midnight Special, or "drunk bus." This bus -- funded by the transportation fee and free-of-cost to riders -- runs every 20 minutes, starts at the Indiana Memorial Union campus bus shelter and stops at \n various downtown locations and all campus bus stops. \n"(The Midnight Special) is on our platform because the students want more drunk buses," Red Hot Treasurer candidate and junior Scott Ottenheimer said. "People didn't like calling the drivers' cell phones to see where they are, and people are confused as to which bus to get on." \nHoosier presidential candidate and junior Betsy Henke said more "drunk buses" are needed because of increased ridership.\n"They're always full; that means people are using the service," she said. "We know there's a bus (coming) every so (often), and (it seems) it never comes again."\nChris Gourley, CEO of Bloomington Shuttle Service, Inc., said the company is "willing to respond to whatever the University needs, but the decision isn't made by us, it's made by the trustees."\nKent McDaniel, IU assistant director of transportation services, said it's up to the trustees to approve the transportation fee, which, in turn, determines how much service the buses can provide.\nHe added that in spring 2004, Transportation Services worked with IUSA and was able to add two buses, bringing the total number of buses to four, to create the east route. \nHenke said Hoosier has been unable to reach anyone at Transportation Services to talk about extending the Midnight Special, but Hoosier has spoken with student trustee Casey Cox about reallocating fees from within IUSA to sponsor buses. \nOttenheimer said Red Hot has not yet spoken with anyone at Transportation Services about the Midnight Special.
$1 Cabs\nOttenheimer said dollar cabs is a program that can promote safety, which he said is one of Red Hot's overall themes.\n"We do believe it's feasible," he said. "It was done last year (during Little 500)."\nInterested students could acquire dollar cab vouchers that were financially supported by area businesses last year. To get a cab ride, the rider needed to pair the voucher with $1.\nLeslie Gyger, Yellow Cab manager, said he's hoping to have the program again.\n"I thought it was a good program," he said. "It was for whoever wanted to use (it, not for certain groups) like a lot of programs that seem to come and go. They're usually used for people who are out drinking; this is for everyone."\nAccording to the proposal, Bloomington-area businesses donated a total of $15,000 to subsidize this program. IUSA provided $5,500 for advertising and production costs. Ottenheimer said Red Hot is interested in getting businesses or non-profit organizations to sponsor the program again.\nBut Henke said dollar cabs have few results.\n"It doesn't work," she said. "It's wasting students' money, (which) can be used to enhance the number of drunk buses on campus."
CampusAccess Cabs\nAnother issue on Red Hot's platform is allowing students to pay for taxi rides with their CampusAccess cards. Ottenheimer said Yellow Cab is already planning to allow people to pay for cabs with their credit cards.\n"Once (Yellow Cab) accepts credit cards," he said, "it's a goal of ours to get them to accept CampusAccess."\nHenke said Hoosier called Yellow Cab, which told her credit card payments might be accepted in the future, but not for some years. Henke also said installing credit card printers in each cab can cost upwards of $550.\n"We talked to (Yellow Cab) -- they said credit cards were six, seven, eight years down the road," she said. "That seems unrealistic"
