For $10.90 a semester, students have access to Eastern’s shuttle bus service that runs regular routes both on and off campus.

This fee on the student bill buys a seat on the fleet of 16-passenger buses for students in search of a ride to class or who need to run errands, just so long as space permits.

Eastern has reached a point this past semester in which more space is needed to transport the influx of student riders, said Michael Stopka, chair of the student government shuttle bus committee.

Stopka based his opinion off the data collected from an electronic survey randomly distributed to 2,000 students, which was ultimately completed by 183.

Some questions received more responses from students than others because a number of those who received the survey did not fully complete it.

The data indicated that 42 out of 90 students said they were, to some degree, satisfied with the amount of seating available to passengers, while another 23 students selected a degree of dissatisfaction.

This section of the survey scored the lowest approval ratings out of a series of 12 questions evaluating student views on the shuttle bus operations.

“Right now, buses – especially in the morning – are pretty crowded, and the right thing to do is get bigger buses,” Stopka said.

Jasmene Valentine, a freshman undecided major from Chicago, said she sees the need for buses that accommodate more seats every weekend when she shops at Wal-mart.

“Basically, if you want a ride, you better get on at or before Andrews, because if you wait, you’ll be out of luck,” Valentine said. “Even if the driver doesn’t care and lets you sit in the back, you’re uncomfortable the entire way there.”

Fellow freshman Sarah Plutnicki agreed and said she might use the service more if she was guaranteed a seat because she is fed up with having to wait and push back plans just to complete her grocery shopping.

“When I first got here, I expected to take the bus because it’s basically free, but I’ve waited and waited and then been turned away because the bus is already full before it even gets to my stop,” Plutnicki said. “We’re not a huge school, and public transportation shouldn’t be an issue.”

In the effort to put an end to delayed arrivals based on limited seating, Stopka introduced a resolution in the student senate to encourage the university to lease shuttle buses capable of transporting a larger number of passengers that senate members passed last Wednesday.

The authors of the resolution cited the fee all students must pay to support the service, stating that no one should be turned down based on limited seating.

Of the 202 students who answered the question about the service, 98 said they have ridden the bus this school year while 104 said they have yet to ride.

Some reasons students gave for not riding the bus include the preference of personal transportation or finding it quicker to walk.

Out of 485 students, 74 deemed the service to be inconvenient because they must plan for pickup, arrival and return, while 33 said the service is too slow, 26 said the bus is always running late and six complained that people on the bus are “creepy.”

Students indicated Wal-mart as their most popular destination, as well as the area they most frequently board from, followed by Andrews Hall, McAfee Gym, the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union and Coleman Hall.

Obtaining the data that garnered the necessary senate support, Stopka said the recommendation will be delivered to the administration, who will exercise the final say over the leasing of additional buses or those capable of accommodating more passengers.

Isaac Sandidge, student speaker of the senate, co-authored the resolution and said he is confident the administration will lease buses with different seating arrangements that will allow for more passengers to board by fall because the university’s contract will soon expire.

“I think the administration wants to go with different buses because ridership has been so high,” Sandidge said. “We want to get the most people on the bus for the best value possible. We’ve never had this problem before, but it’s not necessarily a bad one. The shuttle bus committee has done some tremendous things this year, and the input gathered from the survey will be vital in the future.”

Erica Whelan can be reached at 581-7942 or elwhelan@eiu.edu.

Freshman pre-med major Minnie Harris and junior communication studies major Angelica Cabel wait outside of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union for the Panther Bus. Harris and Cable both said that the bus is over-crowded and should be larger.(Audre

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