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Now that the city has a skating rink, do you plan to use it? |
Emmi Harlan | Northern Star
Students wait in the cold to catch a bus Tuesday morning on Ridge Drive.
Cold conditions compromise Huskie Bus schedule
Students may not consider winter the ideal time of year to wait outside for a late bus.
But this is what many students are faced with during the opening days of the spring semester while waiting for a Huskie Bus.
“Two times this week, I was late because of a bus,” said junior sociology major Alexandria Springer. “People depend on them to get places on time.”
Brent Keller, the Student Association’s director of mass transit, is aware of the perceived problem.
“In the beginning of the semester, everything’s a bit shaky,” Keller said.
Keller gets complaints directly from students and does his best to alleviate their concerns.
“I usually apologize for the inconvenience,” he said.
Keller knows that “no busing system is going to be perfect,” so if there is a problem, students may have to take a different route or leave earlier, he said.
Jessica Ward, a junior art major, empathizes with the SA’s situation.
“I think they’re doing the best they can,” Ward said. “It just happens.”
Though students have to brave the elements waiting for the bus, there are also those that have to get the bus there in the first place.
“We’ve been pretty consistent,” said Merlin Burton, who has been a Huskie Line driver for about a year. “It’s been pretty crowded because of the weather.”
It also takes time for new Huskie Bus Line drivers to become acclimated to the job, and with the beginning of a new semester, there are more new drivers than usual.
“A little lateness occurs because of new people,” said Raju Ben, a Huskie Line driver and senior economics major. “You can get behind.”
Some drivers even get complaints directly when students become unhappy with the service.
“Sometimes we are under appreciated,” said Burton, who has endured his fair share of complaints. However, the complaints tend to regard issues that are out of his control, Burton said.
Keller said this new semester problem is “usually resolved within a week,” but Midwest weather can be notoriously unpredictable.
“Weather is always the big X–factor,” Keller said.
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I am not going to get upset because the buses are overly crowded, but I am upset that it is -14 degrees and the huskie tracker is not working. What is the point of spending all that money if the system is going to fail when the students need it most?