Students voice opinions on late-night bus route

Students gathered Monday night in Woodburn Hall to discuss ideas and opinions about a new late-night bus service.

The Hoosier Safe Driver Program, the Campus Bus Services and the Bloomington Transit have created a proposal for the Hooiser Night Owl, a safe mode of transportation for students until 4 a.m Thursday through Saturday.

Senior Jonathan Rollins, the chief correspondent of Hoosier Safe Drivers, said the Hoosier Night Owl would provide safe transportation on the campus routes A, B and E and Bloomington routes 6 and 9. Bus routes would include stops along Kirkwood and Walnut avenues.

The Night Owl Bus is set to begin operating at the beginning of the fall semester, but the logistics are still being worked out.

Rollins asked attendees where they believe appropriate stops for the Night Owl would be and how both the Campus Bus Services and the Hoosier Safe Drivers could get the word out about the Night Owl.

Suggestions for stops included popular bars, restaurants and apartments, such as Yogi’s Grill and Bar, Brownstone Terrace and Smallwood Plaza.

A major concern is that the Night Owl Bus should not be known as the “Drunk Bus,” Rollins said.

“We want you guys to have a safe ride home,” Rollins said. “The main thing is we definitely don’t want it to switch to what (the Midnight Special) is now.”

Sophomore Sam Meyer, president of Hoosier Safe Drivers, said attendees came up with the idea in the classroom and decided to present it to the IU Campus Bus Service.

“We went there and told them our idea and they said, ‘Great! We’re way ahead of you!’” Meyer said.

The two organizations came together to form the current plans for the Night Owl Bus.
Rollins said the Midnight Special, nicknamed the “Drunk Bus,” has erratic routes and is usually overcrowded.

“The ‘Drunk Bus’ has no actual routes,” said Rollins. “We want to set up designated stops and set times for the Night Owl Bus.”

Freshman Savannah Smidt said the Midnight Special is often crowded and unpredictable.

“I’ve had to run for it in the past,” Smidt said. “Sometimes when it’s crowded, the driver will only let girls on.”

Currently, there are four buses for three routes on the Midnight Special, according to a press release. The Night Owl Bus would have a full-sized transit bus on each of the five routes and would provide transportation to off-campus housing as well as the residence halls.

The Midnight Special is run by Bloomington Shuttle Service and costs $95 an hour to run, said Perry Maull, the operations manager for IU Campus Bus Service.

“With Bloomington Transit we would pay $46 an hour along with Campus Bus Service’s $36 an hour,” Maull said.

Unlike the Midnight Special, which is offered only to IU students, the Hoosier Night Owl would be able to be used by everyone, Maull said.

“For the Bloomington Transit routes, students would show their ID or pay the fare,” Maull said, “the same as during the day.”

The current contract with Bloomington Shuttle expired Dec. 31, 2008, and was extended one semester to provide students with a safe mode of transportation home, Maull said.

“We have the operating, schedules and the bus aspects down,” Maull said. “But we’ll be working into the summer.”