Campus bus given $5k makeover, red paint job

The new IU bus that was unveiled Monday by WFIU and WTIU managers is sure to turn some heads around campus.\nThe bus was plucked from its ordinary campus route and given an approximately $5,000 makeover. It was painted bright crimson and now has campus radio and television announcements on each side. It made its debut in front of the Radio and Television building before being ordered back to its regular duties Monday afternoon.\n“This bus will be going right back to its regular routes, picking up and dropping of students as usual,” said IU Campus Bus Service Operations Manager Perry Maul. “No matter where you go around campus you’re bound to run into it sooner or later, and you can’t miss it.”\nAfter WFIU and WTIU contracted a deal with the IU campus bus service, the local broadcasting teams were allowed the first IU campus bus to display outside advertising or what they refer to as “announcements.”\n“This is a win-win situation,” said WFIU Marketing Director Scott Witzke. “Not only will we have visual presence around campus, but the bus service is already being given announcement slots on both IUSTV and WFIU.”\nThis is the first campus organization to be given “outward recognition” with the campus bus service, which usually only runs advertisements internally, Maul said. But the IU bus service is starting to strike up deals with a number of other IU associations such as the IU Auditorium, the athletics department and more.\nThe campus bus service has been running in Bloomington since 1967 and will celebrate is 41st birthday this October, Maul said. The transit system has become more and more popular over the years, loading a record high of 26,000 students on the second day of school this fall, but has until recently had very little public marketing.\n“We have always tried to get the word out about the bus system around campus, usually with fliers and postings and with the IDS over the years,” Maul said. “Though it’s needless to say that we are happy to be in partnership with the local media.”\nAnd the good blood runs in both directions as local broadcast stations finally have their own outlet and “serious visual presence in the community,” said WTIU Station Manager Phil Meyer.\nOn one side of the bus, dedicated to campus television, there is a picture of big bird to promote children’s programming and a photo of PBS’ Jim Lehrer and IU’s own Ann Shea and Tony Perkins, who host WTIU’s Weekly Special on Thursday and Friday evenings, Meyer said.