New bus service creates extended hours

Starting tonight, students will have a new way to get home from late-night activities around campus and Kirkwood Avenue.

The Night Owl bus service – which is replacing the Midnight Special service – will extend the A, B and E campus bus routes as well as Bloomington Transit 6 and 9 routes later into the night on weekends.

The move comes after the expiration of an expensive, sometimes-criticized contract with Bloomington Shuttle Service Inc., which cost the University more than $150,000 per year, or almost $2.70 per student ride, according to a Sept. 6, 2006, Indiana Daily Student article.

The Midnight Special service cost about $95 per hour to run, while expanded Bloomington Transit service will costs only $46 per hour and Campus Bus service just $36 per hour, according to an April 14 Indiana Daily Student article.

The new routes won’t just be for IU students. Just like daytime routes, the expanded Bloomington transit routes will require payment or an IU student ID, making them available to the public.

While the Midnight Special routes were different from daytime routes and would make special stops for students, the new service will follow daytime bus routes at the same campus bus stops, with small detours down Kirkwood Avenue and Walnut Street for the A, B and E routes.

The new buses will have extended hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.