Bus service improves

Returning IU students might have found themselves disappointed with the changes in IU’s campus bus service.

Overall, bus service was cut 20 percent from last year due to financial constraints, mainly the huge spike in fuel costs during recent months, said IU Student Association President Luke Fields.

Perhaps the most visible change was that the end of late night buses, which used to run until midnight, stopped running at 11 p.m., leaving the night owls and midnight library enthusiasts quite frustrated.

When looking at the bigger picture, cutting late night buses may have been the lesser evil as opposed to making unilateral service cuts, which would impact students during peak class time hours.

Thankfully, IU has decided to pursue neither evil.

On Wednesday, administrators announced they would restore some previous late night routes that had been cut. As soon as Monday, four additional round trips will be added to the A, B and E routes from 10:40 p.m. until just after 12:30 a.m.

With the declining cost of fuel, administrators say the cost of the extended service hours can be absorbed by the existing budget, delivering no extra cost to students.

Furthermore, the Committee for Fee Review will be meeting this year and they will consider raising the transportation fee to help improve bus service. In addition to that option, several organizations and departments, including IUSA, the Student Transportation Board, the Residence Halls Association, the Interfraternity Council, and the Panhellenic Association, have been working hard to pursue alternative sources of funding so as not to place undue burden on IU students.

IUSA has also been working in collaboration with the administration in order to secure the funds to re-extend bus services that have been cut this year.

While we hope these extensions will also bring back more extensive weekend and holiday hours, we acknowledge the restoration of night transportation was by far the most necessary.

In the interest of our students’ safety and convenience, we are always glad to see the return of more thorough public transportation and hope more is on the way.