Multiple Indiana University campus bus routes have changed this year, leading students to see a difference in the ways they travel into and around campus.
Eagleson Avenue between Law Lane and 10th Street will be closed until July 2027, according to the Monroe County Highway Department. Due to the construction, the IU campus bus B Route has changed.
Beaty Construction is working to replace the bridge on North Eagleson Avenue near the Indiana University Student Health Center.
Some students claim changes to the B Route have added time to the overall length of the route.
“I can definitely tell a difference,” IU junior Michael Opperman said. “You have better odds walking home than catching the bus.”
The campus bus service planned the B Route with the construction in mind, so there were no adjustments to the route when the semester started, IU spokesperson Mark Bode wrote in an email to the Indiana Daily Student.
Sophomore Serena Zentz has to ride nearly the entire route to get to her house, she said.
“I only have an hour for lunch every day and I have to go up there, so I don’t have time to eat,” Zentz said.
Students said the route has added at least 10-20 minutes, affecting their daily routines.
ETA Spot, the bus tracking app, posted an announcement of the detour on Sept. 3, Bode wrote in an email.
“I would say I’m up 30-45 minutes earlier just to eat breakfast and shower,” Opperman said.
Junior Luke Steigleder said he has had to change the time he leaves for class every day due to the rerouting.
“It’s been very annoying,” Steigleder said.
Rob Burkhart, construction inspector, said the intersection is closed for utility relocation work currently, but the bridge itself will be closing within the next several days.
The intersection of Eagleson Avenue and Law Lane will be closing on Jan. 1, 2027. This closure will also last until July 31, 2027.
Additionally, the IU campus X Route has been removed.
The X Route ran from Memorial Stadium to the Kelley School of Business and the Geology building.
Senior Braeden Craig said the X bus was helpful last year to get from campus to the stadium quickly.
“It’s overall disappointing,” Craig said. “A lot of the students I talk to are also greatly frustrated with this and greatly frustrated with the course of action.”
Craig says he feels that a lot of students often say that the campus needs more buses and ones that run longer routes.
“To see IU policy and IU administration kind of go against exactly what students are suggesting, it was kind of unfortunate and disappointing, but it was almost, I almost want to say, it was expected,” Craig said. “I feel like IU administration has consistently kind of disregarded student opinion and student voices in their policy decisions.”
The F and W Routes are the other two buses that stop at Memorial Stadium. The F Route makes 20 stops while the W Route makes seven.
Craig said he still can take those routes, but he has to go to the bus stop earlier. He cannot rely on a bus being available, he said, because it is very common for those buses to be stuck on campus.
“There’s been times I’ve almost been late to classes, even though I’ve woken up and left my house like an hour before,” Craig said.
The X Route was helpful in instances that the F bus was full at the Kelley stop, he said.
IU now has four bus routes that run most days. The B, E and F routes run every day while the W bus runs Monday through Friday.
Craig expressed his concerns for the future of the bus system come winter.
“If you are not providing the students with the resources for them to excel in their studies, then how much of an accredited university are you really, if you prioritize athletic funding over student transportation and safety,” Craig said.
IU has made multiple changes to the bus routes and system this year, including an additional stop on the F Route at the Musical Arts Center.
The campus bus service removed the X Route based on ridership trends and the redistribution of services, following demand, Bode wrote. He added that the service hours previously assigned to the X Route were redistributed to the F Route, which serves more of the campus.
“Campus bus service continues to review passenger loads and peak travel periods to determine how to most efficiently deploy resources,” Bode wrote.
Junior Caton Clark rode the X Route for two years, using it as her main way of getting to Memorial Stadium, where her car was parked, from the Geology Building.
Clark said on the first day of classes she waited outside the Geology Building for around 10 minutes before looking up where the bus was and finding out that it was removed.
“It was really frustrating to not be able to take my old route that was shorter,” Clark said. “A lot of the times I was actually late to my classes because the F and W buses would get stuck in traffic.”
There are no longer any campus buses that stop at the Geology Building, according to the IU Campus Bus Service website.
