Just two weeks into the fall semester, the Mass Transit Advisory Board is adapting the transit system in response to student reaction.

By Gus Bode

Route No. 5, which encompasses the Southern Hills complex, will now begin at 7:18 a.m. at the Mae Smith and Schneider Towers to cater to the student population that have 8 a.m. classes.

Beginning Saturday, another update to the system is the introduction of a second bus on route No. 1, which runs the business loop in Carbondale from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Larry Juhlin, vice president for Student Affairs, said the buses had to turn away an estimated 160 people last Saturday on route No. 1 because the bus had reached capacity. The additional bus was enlisted to accommodate the extra people.

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Giant City and routes to the Carbondale Clinic are two more suggestions the board will look at over time, Juhlin said. We will first have to find what bus routes are being used and which ones aren’t.

Whenever we are turning down 20 to 30 people in an hour, we can respond immediately, said Jeff Duke, assistant director of the Student Center.

Duke said students can pick up suggestion forms for the mass transit system at the administrative offices in the Student Center.

Students can bring in the complaint forms to the office, said Duke. We also encourage students to call in over the phone. Anything that will make the system better for the students can go before the board.

Complaints such as buses being late, the price of passes and route changes are the usual complaints, he said.

The Mass Transit Advisory Board meets every two weeks on Mondays in the student center and consists of seven students and five community representatives.

The student representatives are:Patrick Smith and Adam Kantrovich from the Graduate and Professional Student Council; Mike Nolan, Matt Parsons, Jeff Shabino, and Duane Sherman for the undergraduates and Pam Howell from disabled student services.

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The community representatives include Don Monty, Linda Mueller, Sam Jordan, Juhlin and Duke.

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