Midnight Special will make changes for safety, time

Students who use the IU Campus Bus Service's Midnight Special will see a change in the way the service operates after this week.\nFlagging down the bus for stops and rides from residences into downtown and campus will no longer be allowed after 1 a.m.\nThe Midnight Special is a late-night service that provides rides for students on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 p.m. until 4 a.m. during the school year, according to an IU news release. Any student who shows his or her student ID can ride on one of the buses to anywhere on campus or downtown Bloomington. The buses take students home as long as they live within the city limits.\nBut beginning Jan. 18, students will no longer be able to flag down the buses to be picked up after 1 a.m.\n"With flag stops, we had people chasing buses down the street trying to get on," said Kent McDaniel, assistant director of IU Transportation Services. "That's not a situation we want to have."\nMcDaniel said the service will operate using the same system as last semester this Thursday, Friday and Saturday to give everyone time to understand the new rules.\nThe buses will also no longer pick up students for trips into town after 1 a.m. A reason for the change, McDaniel said, is that about halfway through the night the buses are usually taking home people from campus and downtown.\n"It makes no sense for the buses to drop people off at their residences and then drive way out of the way to bring more people in," he said.\nThe buses haven't been able to stay on schedule, he said, causing the fixed-route structure to fall apart.\nThe Campus Bus Service and the IU Student Association worked together to tweak the Midnight Special's new hours and service. \nIUSA Vice President Andrew Lauck said student complaints sparked the change. Complaints about the bus system, such as late buses, are among the top issues IUSA hears, he said.\n"The current Midnight Special system is a nightmare," he said. "There is no reliability."\nLauck said a group of IUSA members outlined a list of problems with the current system, and IUSA's chief of operations, Phil Smith, took the list to the Campus Bus Service. \n"Students pay for this service through their transportation fee," Lauck said, "and they should be able to use it."\nSome of the designated stops have nearby signs with a picture of a moon and say "midnight," but others do not. McDaniel said IU Transportation Services wants to post more signs downtown and hopes to have them up by the time the service starts.\n"We hope these changes will provide people with a little more safe and reliable service," McDaniel said.\nTo view the bus routes, visit www.iubus.indiana.edu and click on the Midnight Special tab.