Despite safety concerns from drivers and budget issues, Student Government and the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation still hope to extend Campus Transit hours this semester.
SG wants to extend the call-in transportation service to 3 a.m., because residence hall visitation hours run until 3 a.m. on weekends and 1 a.m. on weeknights. But full-time and student drivers have expressed concern about extending their work hours that late into the night.
“The later it is, the stranger the people are,” said April Wallace, a student driver and dispatcher.
“When someone flags us down, we have to pick them up if they look like students,” Wallace said. “If you look at our call logs, it’s not really people leaving the library.”
Campus Transit — or “night bus” — drivers handle pickups through either phone requests or “flags” — situations when someone on campus flags down one of the vehicles. The service runs from 5:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily.
Wallace estimated 25 percent of the Campus Transit riders come from the Chimes Street area — many of them too intoxicated to get back to their dorms, she said.
“A lot of people call us and think we’re the drunk bus,” Wallace said. She said during later hours, intoxicated riders can be rowdy and disturb her concentration on the road.
Campus Transit employs three student drivers that work 20 hours per week and four full-time drivers that typically get one weekend off per month.
“There wouldn’t be any difference between 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock,” said Gary Graham, director of the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation. He said every driver has constant communication with dispatchers at the Public Safety Building.
“They’re aware of what the hours are when they apply for the job,” Graham said.
Helen Frazier, a full-time driver, said those implementing the proposal to extend the hours until 3 a.m. do not realize what it’s like driving in the middle of the night.
A resident of St. Gabriel, a town about 30 miles from Baton Rouge, Frazier said she arrives home between 2:30 and 3 a.m. each night. She then gets up at 6 a.m. to take her child to school.
    “We’re getting off late as it is,” said Frazier, 45. “If we’re still out there driving at 3 o’clock, we may get a call or pick up a flag at 3 o’clock.”
    Holden Wright, SG director of transportation, said the problem with extending operation hours is funding. Wright said Campus Transit already costs the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation $113,000 more than it receives in student transportation fees.
    In order to fix the deficit, Wright said the number of mini-buses and vans may be cut, or fees will have to be raised.
    He said all students pay $38.50 each semester for the use of Capital Area Transit buses and $.80 for Campus Transit.
   “We could go the route of student fees, but we don’t want to,” said Patrick Downs, SG vice president. “We want to get more creative and look at what we’re spending right now.”
    Because the Campus Transit fee is student-assessed rather than University-mandated, the Student Senate would have to approve an additional funding proposal.
    Wright estimated an extra $2,000 would be needed per year if the transit hours were extended to 3 a.m.
    Another option is shifting the operation hours to 6:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.
    Graham said shifting hours would not cost more.
    “We need to get some final figures,” Graham said. “If shifted, we’re going to take it off the front end, and it’ll help more students.”
    Soji Iledare, chemical engineering sophomore, lived in Kirby-Smith Hall in the spring and used Campus Transit to get to the Student Recreational Sports Complex. He said shifting the transit schedule would not be beneficial for those wanting rides as early as 5:30 p.m.
    “It’s fine the way it is right now,” Iledare said.
    Erin Foster, graphic design junior, agreed with Iledare and said early operation hours should not be pushed past 6 p.m. But she said extending the schedule to 3 a.m. would benefit students who live on campus and do not have cars.
Foster lived in McVoy Hall during the 2003-04 year and depended on Campus Transit in the evenings to get across campus.
“As far as safety goes, it helps so that everyone is not walking around campus [late at night] by themselves,” Foster said.
Contact Chris Day at [email protected]