Local
THE BATTALION Page 3
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1981
A&M receiving bids
for bus manufacturer
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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
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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