Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Steve Berry/Alestle A Cougar Shuttle bus rolls through Hairpin Drive. The shuttle service provides students transportation between Cougar Village and the core campus.

Madison County Transit buses have been filling up and passing students on the 400-side of Cougar Village since the beginning of the fall semester.

The problem started last fall, according to S.J. Morrison, Director of Marketing and Planning at MCT. The buses are filling up on the 500-side of Cougar Village and then passing the 400-side because they cannot add more passengers, Morrison said.

Morrison said students began complaining, so MCT sent several representatives to ride the routes and see what the problem was and if there would be any way to fix it.

"The routes were studied for a week, and we noticed that students were taking earlier buses," Morrison said.

Because MCT decided the students had fixed the problem on their own, no plan was implemented to remedy it.

"It was our understanding that nothing needed to be done because overloads stopped happening," Morrison said.

Even though MCT claims the problem was fixed, it remains on the minds of several 400-side Cougar Village residents.

"I walk over to the 500 side, because there's no way I will get a bus (otherwise)," Mike Aldrige, a 400-side freshman, said.

According to Aldrige, some bus drivers will drive to campus and then turn around to pick up 400-side students directly. Aldridge thinks this tactic does help slightly; however he thinks there may be problems in the future.

"The school is steadily growing, so they're going to have to change the bus schedule," Aldrige said.

Not every student is still experiencing problems with the bus schedule, though.

"It seems like they have made it more accessible," Spencer Brinker, another 400-side sophomore, said. "I am pretty much guaranteed a ride to class at nine in the morning."

Brinker said he has not had a problem catching the bus. If he does not get on at the scheduled time, he said he waits five minutes for another.

Although he is not having problems personally, Brinker said he thinks the buses may be turning around to pick up 400-side students so quickly because it has been so cold outside.

Perceptions of the bus situation vary widely. Despite what kind of feedback it receives, MCT has stuck to its story.

"Our job is to provide excellent bus service to the campus," Morrison said. "If overloads happen again, we will ride again."

For more information about bus schedules or to speak to an MCT representative, call 874-7433.

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