The Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation invited transportation companies to bid on the campus bus system after students showed frustration with delayed and packed buses.The University began accepting bids Friday and should know by the end of March what is available in the market within students’ budget range.Students will see a fee increase, regardless, said Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation. But the Student Required Fee Committee will approve the fee increase based on what current students are willing to pay. A large percentage of students indicated they were willing to pay more for a better service, according to a November survey.The search for a new service began last summer when the Capital Area Transit System, which has served the University for 30 years, increased the hourly fee per bus from $58 to $83.50.”Transportation fee increases were scheduled to pay for our CATS service,” said Brandon Boyd, Student Government director of transportation. “But when we went to the contract table in June, that scheduled fee increase was not enough to cover the cost of the CATS service.”A large cut to the service reduced the number of buses from 21 to 12, but SG said that was unreasonable sacrifice to be made for the quality of service, Boyd said.SG compared the quality of the University’s bus service to peer institutions and realized the buses were not as modernized and efficient as others. The University wants new 40-foot buses that use GPS locators and alternate fuels.”These features are becoming standard in all industries, but especially on college campuses,” Boyd said. “Things like real-time GPS, use of school colors and logos on buses and university-managed systems are quickly becoming commonplace.”As higher education becomes more concerned with its environmental impact, alternate transportation is considered an easy way to reduce emissions and energy use, Boyd said. Longer buses can carry more passengers, which saves time and energy and won’t leave students waiting on the curb for the next bus.The new buses could carry up to 20 more students sitting and standing, Graham said.”The quality and size of the buses are based on what is appropriate to meet the demand of students,” Graham said. “One of the complaints is students are being left with full buses.”The buses equipped with GPS locator systems will allow students to track the buses on the route from their computers.”With a real-time GPS system, students are much more likely to park and catch the bus if they can pull up the routes on their laptop or phone and see where the bus is,” Boyd said.——Contact Leslie Presnall at [email protected]