The Student Senate discussed a new bus tracking system, among other transportation issues, Wednesday night at its shortest meeting since the semester’s beginning.
Each bus would be equipped with a box emitting a signal to a satellite. The signal would show up on Web site maps and locate where buses are on their routes. The tracking system would benefit both students and the Capital Transportation Corporation office, said Jay Ducote, SG director of campus parking and transportation.
“For students, if they saw the bus was right around the corner, they’d say, ‘Oh, I need to hurry,'” he said.
CTC could make sure buses are running proper routes and not taking too many breaks during the day, Ducote said.
The only bad news is the system costs $30,000, which Student Government will have to come up with itself, he said. But, Ducote remained confident in SG’s ability to find the money.
CTC does not have enough money to pay for the $500 [each] signal box for all of its buses, Ducote said.
Ducote said the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation will be putting up new signs forbidding people from riding their bikes in the Quad.
The current signs are faded and hard to read, he said.
Also, there will be a new page connected to the parking office’s, and eventually SG’s, Web sites by the end of the semester. The page will show a map of campus and links to areas under construction with information and expected finishing dates, Ducote said.
In other business, Director of Information Technology Guy Pyrzak said SG is working on a new link on students’ PAWS accounts connecting to SG and other student organizations.
“This will help the student body be connected even more,” Pyrzak said.
Two new bills also were proposed at the meeting and deferred to the Senate finance committee.
One, proposed by Sen. Edward Collins, would give $800 to the Food and Science Club of LSU to help them pay for attending the Southcentral Region College Bowl of the Institute of Food Technologist Student Association on March 12-14 in Irving, Texas.
The other, proposed by Sen. Michael Cooper, would give $2,000 to the Arnold Air Society to help pay for the cost of registration and hotel expenses at the National Conclave on April 18-22 in Houston, Texas.