A-bus schedule halved for Summer Session II

By Eric Welch\neswelch@indiana.edu\nIU students who stand at bus stops each day may have to start waiting a little longer.\nCampus Bus Service announced its plans to cut back services along the A route during the second summer session due to a sharp rise in fuel costs and a decrease in commuters over the summer. This means passengers will see fewer buses less frequently. Starting Friday, the A route will run every 30 minutes, half as often as it did last summer.\nThe changes come in the wake of a shortening of the E route two weeks ago, which eliminated service to College Mall. And even more cuts could come for the next semesters, as well.\nExecutive director of IU Transportation Services, Kent McDaniel, said the department is facing a budget crisis that is impossible to balance without cutting services.\n“That’s unfortunately the only thing we can do at this point,” he said with a sigh of frustration. “Right now we’re 100 percent dependent on the student transportation fee for all our operating expenses. We don’t get state funding.”\nMcDaniel said Transportation Services’ budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year is increasing by 2.8 percent, but it cannot compensate for a 15 percent increase in fringe benefits, inflation and an estimated 70 percent increase in fuel prices over the past year. The student transportation fee for the summer, however, will remain at $32.46 for students taking more than three credit hours.\n“Unless we find additional sources of funding, I expect we’ll have to make more cuts in the future,” McDaniel said. “There will probably be more coming in the next term. We’re looking at a lot of options, and we are considering eliminating the U route in the fall.”\nThe U route, McDaniel said, started as an experiment in 2007 to relieve pressure from the A and B routes, but was mostly unsuccessful and typically carried only a handful of passengers.\n“We will keep as much service as possible during peak hours, especially during classes,” McDaniel said of the fall semester, adding that the University is trying to keep students’ needs at the forefront of its decision-making.\n“It is unfortunate, especially at a time when people are wanting to get out of their cars and take the bus, that the public transportation system has to cut back as well.”\nPaula Grez, a graduate student, said eliminating the right bus routes could be helpful and have a minimal effect on students.\n“Sometimes I see two A buses running right behind each other, and one’s empty. I think that’s too much,” she said. “I’ll be OK just as long as fees don’t get any higher.”\n“Everyone is feeling the gas crunch,” IU Student Association President Luke Fields said. “And there’s no real way to get around it. I’m hesitant to champion the University cutting services, but at the same time I’m glad they are keeping as much as they are. I expected to see much more cut.”