Senior becomes 3 millionth bus rider

On April 25, senior Drew Evans went about his day as he normally would. He woke up, brushed his teeth and washed his face. He grabbed his backpack and made his way to the stadium white lot to catch a bus. The only difference was that this time he was met by Dean of Students Dick McKaig, Kent McDaniel, executive director of transportation services for IU and Perry Maull, operations manager of the IU Campus Bus service, and received $100 on his CampusAccess card for being the campus bus service’s 3 millionth rider. \n“I don’t (normally) ride the bus at that time,” Evans said. “The class I have before that was finished and I had a meeting around that time.” \nEvans said that at first he thought the event was for candid camera and was surprised by it. Evans ended up spending the $100 on food for himself and his roommates. \nMcKaig said that, since students pay a transportation fee every year for the bus service, he wanted to send a message to show how important the service is. \n“It’s important so we’re aware of how many people rely on the bus system daily,” McKaig said. \nMcKaig explained that he knew a couple of weeks prior that they were coming up on the 3 million rider mark. McKaig then made a note of it with McDaniel and they calculated where the rider would be and when. McKaig also handed out chocolate no-bake cookies from the Indiana Memorial Union snack shop Sugar and Spice to other students getting on the bus. \n“We suggested to recognize that person,” McKaig said. “And give something to everyone.” \nMcDaniel said that reaching 3 million riders was no more important than 2,999,999, but instead it was a landmark for the bus systems. \n“People don’t realize the quality of the bus service,” McDaniel said. \nMcDaniel explained that, during the fall and spring semesters, campus bus gets about 300,000 passengers a month, but the ridership levels begin to drop in May. By June, there are only 30,000 passengers monthly. \nThe campus bus service plans on adding more routes in the future. McDaniel said they have a proposal for the U-Route, which will run straight from the stadium white lot across 10th Street to the Jordan extension. \nMcDaniel hopes the U-Route will open up more driving positions so more drivers will move into appointed position with benefits. \n“It’s hard to keep good people without benefits,” McDaniel said.