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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1981)
Local THE BATTALION Page 3 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1981 A&M receiving bids for bus manufacturer in deep trouble. Phizbeam woi iy every word, i it out. ritory for evera ere thankful tkt icrience had taut 11 blazes iphieal maps,’’ )eam, “if you loonvalker y exciting exploi ut I could seem ild be wasted on ie pity. 1 the halt startedi S er, be would 1*1 broken down shuttle bus is towed from the Texas A&M campus. Mechanical difficulties with buses have brought Staff photo by Brian Tate complaints from students and led the University to estab lish its own shuttle system beginning in Fall 1982. huttle buses crowded By JOHN BRAMBLETT Battalion Reporter Texas A&M University is taking bids to decide which bus manufac turer will be contracted to provide buses for an in-house shuttle system. The Texas A&M System Board of Regents decided in July to establish a University-operated shuttle bus system to begin ser vice in the fall of 1982. At that time regents approved $1.4 million for the purchase of buses and $1.1 million to build a facility to house the buses. The current system is operated by Transportation Enterprises Inc. of Austin, whose contract ex pires at the end of the spring semester. Jim Ferguson, Univer sity manager of administrative ser vices for business services, said the contract won’t be renewed be cause of poor service. “The reason we re getting into the bus service,” said Director of Business Services Don Powell, “is we (University officials) feel we can give better service.” On the average, six to 10 of TEI’s 30 buses break down every day, Ferguson said, and that is considered poor service. TEI’s Vice President of Opera tions Doyle Stone would not com ment on TEI’s service or the Uni versity’s decision to operate an in- house shuttle system. “We are expecting from four to six bids (for the buses), ’’ Ferguson said. Two manufacturers have already brought buses to Texas A&M for demonstrations, he said. The buses will be similar to city transit buses, although they are not exactly the same as would be seen in Houston, Ferguson said. The business services office, Ferguson said, plans to purchase 35 buses. Thirty-three of the buses will be large, similar to those used now, and two will be small, he said. Estimated cost of the larger buses is $41,000 each, whereas, the smaller buses cost $25,000 each. The larger buses will hold 44-65 people, Ferguson said, and the smaller buses will hold 18-20. These smaller buses will be used for intra-campus routes, he added, and will be air- conditioned. One or two additional large buses with air-conditioning will be purchased for special events, such as field trips for students, faculty and former students, Ferguson said. These air-conditioned buses cost $10,000 to $11,000 more than the regular shuttle buses. The bus barn will be located near the Veterinary Medicine center on Agronomy Road. The majority of the money financing this project, Ferguson said, is earned by the Business Services office. Business Services is an auxiliary enterprise, he said, which means it is basically self- sustaining without state funds. “In general terms the cost for the entire system breaks down this way: 75 percent user fees, 18 percent student services fees and 7 percent from book store funds,” Ferguson said. The regents gave business ser vices the authority to spend the money it had already made through user fees and other funds.- If everything goes as planned, Powell said, there will not be an increase in rates. “I think we’ll save some money,” he said, “but that remains to be seen.” A major university with its own bus service is not common, Fergu son said, adding that he didn’t know of any other major school in Texas with an in-house shuttle bug system. They hope to pick the bus corm pany by Nov. 1 and have the buses in College Station by July 1982( Ferguson said. [By PHYLLIS HENDERSON Battalion Staff Most students dread the lought of standing at a bus stop r30 minutes only to watch three 11 buses pass them by, but |usands of students are living at nightmare this semester. The Business Services Office received hundreds of student mplaints about the shuttle bus stem, which is contracted by ansportation Enterprises, Inc. The complaints have been med primarily at the “amount of ie in between buses, ” said Jim fguson, manager of administra- services. Some students, he have complained of waits of p to 45 minutes for a bus. 'Richard Kipp, Bryan branch anager of TEL said scheduling d overcrowding problems are e results of other problems the mpany has faced. The first week (of school),’ he id, “we had a lot of trouble with ■ivers — hiring drivers. ” Most of Ie drivers are students, he said, and they want to keep their slim ier jobs as long as possible. After ivers are hired, he said, it takes ’o to three days to train them. “The second week,” he said, had a barrage of mechanical problems.” Kipp said extra mechanics had been brought from Austin in order to get the buses back into action. He said crowding became a problem at the peak times of the day: 7a.m. to 8:30 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. TEI has split the Anderson Parkway route in order to alleviate some of the crowding and time lag between buses, Kipp said, but this is the only change the company has made, and the split runs only from 7 a. m. until 11 a.m. The University requests that at least 30 buses run each day. Fer guson said TEI had run as few as 23 because of the company’s prob lems. The University meets with TEI each year to determine how many buses will be used on each route. Ferguson said this was decided not only by looking at the number of people on each route, but also by reviewing the amount of time it takes to run each route. The breakdown between the number of people on each route and the number of buses is: Anderson Parkway — 2,350 people/7 buses Holleman — 1,250 people/5 buses 1,100 people/3 1,300 people/4 Munson buses Puryear buses Scarlett O’Hara — 1,400 peo ple/4 buses 2818 — 1,300 people/5 buses Villa Maria — 1,000 people/2 buses. Ferguson said this is the mini mum number of buses the Univer sity has decided will adequately serve the students. Kipp said the main objective of TEI is to meet the University request, and added that with the other problems under control, he thought that ob jective would be reached. THE BAIT DOES IT DAILY Monday through Friday AGGIES! Douglas Jewelry 10% AGGIE DISCOUNT ON ALL MERCHANDISE WITH STUDENT ID (Cash Only Please) We reserve the right to limit use of this privilege. Downtown Bryan (212 N. Main) and Culpepper Plaza TOYOTA OWNERS WE ARE FORMING A TOYOTA OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION ON THE A&M CAMPUS. WE ARE ALREADY RECOGNIZED BY A&M AND TOYOTA INTERNATIONAL. WE WILL BE ABLE TO GET PARTS AT A SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT— BETTER THAN EVEN MECHANICS GET. THE T.O.A. WILL HAVE REPAIR CLINICS, DRIVING SCHOOLS, TUNE- UP CLASSES, AND MAINTENANCE REPAIR COURSES- ALLTAUGHT BY PROFESSIONALS. WE HAVE BEEN PROMISED ALL THE ASSISTANCE WE NEED FROM GULF STATES TOYOTA (REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS). THERE ARE 1,500 TOYOTAS HERE ON CAMPUS AND THE MORE MEMBERS WE GET, THE CHEAPER EVERYTHING WILL BE. JOIN US . . . THURSDAY, SEPT. 24, 1981 ROOM 701 -- RUDDER TOWER 7:30 p.m. STUDENTS, FACULTY, & STAFF-- ALL WELCOME FOR INFORMATION - CONTACT MICHAEL WEBB AT 779-3264 7 Ie restore ils of late haw uch would d ; i prw ■ 18) I did a class, w r a whole day Jship. Although and frit 6 sore arms, vorth it. I have ifulness a iccted stares and ceived al wanted. I’d ^ who helped# 1 ' 1 like to t! V nit of the car, pproximately for restoring®! ny Lynn Tln®^ 401 Star McCullf THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH announces CLASSES for those who wish to prepare for confirmation and for those who simply wish to learn about its faith $nd practice Beginning 7:30 p.m. Sunday Sept. 27 ST. THOMAS EPISCOPAL CHURCH 906 Jersey St. (South edge of campus) 696-1726 MSC AGGIE CINEMA PRESENTS ll ■ ■ ■ A striking, enormously powerful episodic drama about life in a repressive boys’ boarding school in England. Distinguished documentary film maker Lindsay Anderson has skillfully used both professional and non-professional actors to build this ultimately shattering account of how the students finally react to what they believe is senseless discipline and authoritarianism, both from the faculty and the upper-class perfects. (Don’t spend any time worrying about the sym bolism and meaning of why the film alternates from time to time from color to black-and-white sequences. The producer simply ran out of money while finishing the movie, and black-and- white processing was cheaper than finishing the film completely in color.) WEDNESDAY SEPT. 23 7:30 P.M. THEATER $1.50 W/TAMU I.D. RATED R ADVANCE TICKETS MAY BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE MONDAY-FRIDAY 9 TO 5 AT THE MSC ROX OFFICE. TICKETS ALSO AVAILARLE 45 REFORE SHOWTIME AT MSC BOX OFFICE. Show your folks North Ramparts... a better place for you to live! Where you live makes a big difference in the quality of your college experience. A condominium at The North Ramparts can be a comfortable and convenient home for you while you’re attending A & M, as well as an excellent investment for your family. • Spacious kitchens with built in appliances (microwave oven optional) • Generous closet and cabinet space throughout • Space for washer and dryer in every plan • Fireplace in many plans • Large living areas, open feeling • Covered parking • Efficiency, 1,2 and 4 bedrooms SOME READY FOR IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY FROM $39,000 to $112,500 MODEL AND SALES OFFICE OPEN COME BY OR CALL 846-1129 North Ramparts A project of The i^. Hamlets Corporation ON NAGLE AT CHURCH STREET, ONE BLOCK OFF UNIVERSITY