Recent student complaints regarding late and overcrowded buses, as well as problematic bus drivers, has prompted Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan to improve public transportation provided by Crystal Transport bus service to and from Brandeis into Cambridge and Boston.Callahan said he added extra buses and will maintain communication with Crystal in his all student e-mail sent last Friday.

"An additional bus will be added on Fridays during the following time frames leaving from Usdan, bringing the total to two buses: 9:30 p.m., 11:00 p.m. 12:30 a.m., 2:00 a.m." Callahan stated in his e-mail. "An additional bus will be added on Saturdays on the 3:30 run leaving from Usdan, bringing the total to two buses."

Callahan also stated the creation of a bus monitor position will assess customer service and bus safety related concerns on a weekly basis.

Overcrowding a primary concern

Many students have complained about buses being overcrowded.

"Coming back from Boston one time, there were too many people on the bus and the driver said people had to get off," Avi Goldman '07 said. "No one did though, so he turned off the bus and we just sat there for 30 minutes. Everyone scrunched down a lot and he turned the bus back on and everyone cheered. Then he turned it back off and he shouted some stuff I couldn't hear and then we went back to Brandeis."

Others find they cannot even get on a bus. "Going into Boston one time, twelve or so people couldn't get on and my friend got stranded in Boston," Yonatan Samian '05 said. "It's good that they're getting more buses; I think they need that."

President of Crystal Transport Linda Carol said that legally, 45 people can be seated and eight can stand.

Students understand drivers need to follow safety laws, but are still frustrated when they are unable to return to campus because of overcrowded buses.

"There are two aspects - we shouldn't have to be so crowded that we sit on each other and stand - it's unacceptable. But it's worth it to get back to campus," Hadas Kroitoru '06 said. "It's not safe to squish on a bus, but it's safer than standing in Harvard Square waiting for the next 2:30 am bus. It gets really extreme though. I've seen bus drivers close doors on people. I understand that it is a safety issue, but we are also relying on that as transportation and it is a real problem."

Callahan said he is willing to take further steps to ensure transportation.

"It's hard to predict who's going to ride on different weekends," he said. "But, if two are not enough in a week or months from now, we will look into adding another."

Callahan said he hopes this will also solve the student complaint of bus lateness or scheduling errors.

Shelby Bleiweis '04 said she is annoyed about the scheduling. "Schedule? What schedule?" Bleiweis said.

Others also expressed similar sentiments. "Schedules and drivers say buses are coming in another 10 minutes, but really they don't come until the next shift," Kroitoru said.

Students also find themselves having to make a greater effort to use the buses. "You have to get there really early to make sure you get seats," Quinn Fleming '05 said.

"I'd rather the bus came a lot more often because if you wait for an hour and a half and then you can't even get on ..." Tara Strauss '06 said.



Complaints about drivers' manners

Students have also criticized driver behavior and etiquette. When trying to get on a bus a driver has deemed full, many students said they were treated inappropriately.

"The bus drivers are in a hard position because I'm sure they don't want to reject people." Kroitoru said. "But still, last week at Rabb a large group was waiting to get on a bus and there were far too many people. When they tried to get on the bus, the driver was actually closing the door on people. When the door was closed, they tried to ask when the next bus was coming and he wouldn't even talk to us. We deserve a little respect."

Strauss had a similar experience when trying to go into Boston for a friend's birthday.

"We couldn't get on the bus because we would have been standing," Strauss said. "When we asked if other buses were coming, the bus driver was rude to us and was like 'am I a palm reader?'"

Students say that even when there is not overcrowding, they have, at times, still found drivers can be verbally abusive.

"We were sitting on the bus and a girl got on and asked if it was the Brandeis bus and the bus driver got all up in her face and was like 'if you don't know me, then you don't ride this bus - I am God.' The girl looked really scared," Goldman said.

Some students have also complained of unsafe driving by the bus employees.

"The bus driver is always kind of bad and he stopped short once and people went flying and the bus driver was cursing," Strauss said. "One time my friend said a bus rear-ended another car."



Resolutions on their way

According to Callahan, problems with drivers should no longer be an issue, even those involving instances.

Goldman recalled when a driver left the bus unattended for a long time to go to a convenience store.

"As for concerns with drivers' safety and behavior, I personally talked to the company and a driver has been removed with a pending investigation," Callahan said.

A bus monitor system has also been created to help supervise driver and safety concerns on Crystal buses. According to Callahan, students who work for the escort safety service and are responsible people will be bus monitors.

The monitor service was attempted two weeks ago. "It was a trial basis and if it works, we will do it each weekend," Callahan said.

For those who still witness situations worthy of driver complaints, Herman said he has advice for students: "Best thing to do if you have a bus driver complaint is to get as much information as possible: the time of the bus, name-tag of driver, the number on the bus and then e-mail Ed with that information. Absolutely action would be taken against the bus driver," Herman said.

Students remain confused as to the cause of these increased problems. "I don't know what changed from last year, but this is much worse - it was never this bad last year. Going into Boston isn't the convenient and safe thing it used to be," Kroitoru said.

Callahan said the modifications aim to "rectify concerns from the complaints last weekend," but upholds that it is a difficult situation to perfect immediately. Citing an increase in rider ship since the beginning of the semester and the fact that first-years don't have cars, Callahan hopes the new changes will solve all problems students are having with the bus system. "The bottom line is customer service."

"We will do anything we can do to make things better," Carol said.