For much of the fall, Student Senate worked on creating a new Gus Bus system. The idea has been in the making for a while and remains a constant topic in Senate since it was created. The Gus Bus system has gone through numerous changes in the past seven years. The Gus Bus has been used as both a “taxi” service, where people call in and request a pick-up at their dorm/house, and a “route” system, in which the bus follows a set route.

Both systems have failed in the past for various reasons. The “taxi” method has been plagued with problems when calls aren’t answered, resulting in extremely long waiting periods. On the other hand, the “route” system has its problems as well; people don’t know where the bus is, how long the wait will be or aren’t familiar with the stops.

Prior to this Gus Bus Trial, the Gus Bus was acting as a taxi. There were numerous complaints that Student Senate received about this system, for exactly the reasons listed above. Personally, I had this complaint spring of my first year and fall of my sophomore year. I eventually gave up riding because it was just easier to walk down to a house most of the time.

But personal experience aside, this system makes much more sense to me. A route ensures that most of the campus and off-campus houses are reached without drivers needing to essentially make up routes to accommodate both those who have called and those riding on the bus. Two buses running circular routes means that the wait should be no more than twenty minutes for any one stop between pick-ups and drop-offs. In my experience, this has been accurate. The longest I have waited at a stop so far in four weekends on this trial run has been fifteen minutes.

That is not to say that the trial is not flawed. I have seen one very large problem so far: there are fourteen stops and six are on campus. The bus stops at Arbor View, the Interpretive Center parking lot, Southwest Hall, College View, Co-Ed and Complex. Personally, when I see that list, I see a lot of redundancy: stops at Complex and Co-Ed are more or less the same stop. Arbor View and the Interpretive Center is perplexing to me. Arborview is so out of the way on the route that this stop must add at least five to ten minutes alone, to serve the 56 people who live there. In all of these cases, the desire was that the Gus Bus stop at the dorms on campus to cut down walking there. Yet, we expect people who are off campus to schlep over to the seven spots scattered throughout St. Peter. I don’t see any reason for this double standard. Walking from Three Flags to Co-Ed or Complex is still shorter than the walk people make to the Market Place three times a day. The walk from the Interpretive Center parking lot to Arbor View is roughly the same distance as the walk from the parking lot to Sohre and Pittman, which is where those first years (and unfortunate upper-class students) go to catch the Gus Bus.

I think this is where a lot of the wait time comes into play. There needs to be fewer on-campus and more off-campus stops, as well as a lot more information thrown at people to make sure that they know where those off-campus stops are.

However, Senate needs feedback on the system—especially those of you who like the new system. E-mail Senate your thoughts: nprince@gac.edu, cwest2@gac.edu or kredden@gac.edu.