Campus Bus Service looks to save money, hire students

IU’s Campus Bus Service wants to expand its fleet of part-time student drivers next fall.

The recruiting push aims to save money, said Perry Maull, operations manager at IU Campus Bus Service.

Health care and other costs are rising for full-time operators, and part-time student workers aren’t paid benefits. It costs an extra 35 cents per dollar in benefits to pay a full-time worker, Maull said.

“The expenses have to be in line with the budget,” Maull said.

Expenses are growing faster than revenue, he said.

For the 2009-10 school year, students taking more than six credit hours will pay $56.50 for transportation fees, up more than $3 from this year.

However, next year IU might not accept as many students to its freshman class as it did this year, so an increase in the fee doesn’t necessarily result in more money, Maull said.

A November 2006 Indiana Daily Student article stated that a campaign to hire student drivers concerned several full-time drivers, some of whom said they thought they were being forced out of their jobs.

One currently vacant full-time position will be replaced by student positions, Maull said, but he doesn’t have plans to eliminate more positions.

Currently, 29 students work part-time transporting the masses around campus, and the service hopes to increase that number to 50 by next fall, Maull said.

Breaks during the school year leave full-time drivers with little to do, Maull said. During the summer, many of the 20 full-time drivers are laid off.

“We’re at full blast 32 weeks a year. The other times we’re scrambling,” Maull said.

More students will be needed to drive the Hoosier Night Owl, the new version of the Midnight Special. Maull said there are plans for student supervisors for the Hoosier Night Owl service.

Student bus drivers are closer to the students they serve, which makes it easier to figure out what’s working and what’s not working, Maull said.

“You all are the people who use the bus,” Maull said.

Part-time drivers go through the same training as full-time drivers. During the summer, new drivers must go through 105 hours of paid training – 45 in the classroom and 60 behind the wheel, Maull said.

Doctoral candidate Erik Winarski said he’s been driving a campus bus part-time since September 2007.

He said he hasn’t sensed ill feelings from full-time drivers to student drivers. He said it’s the best part-time job he’s ever had.

“It’s been a lot of fun to come to work,” Winarski said.