Last week, KSU’s transportation department took quite the hit as one Big Owl Bus had a computer board break down and another was involved in a fender-bender with a student.
The bus with the computer malfunction was taken to a local auto repair center and was back in service the same day. Beth Tindel, KSU’s director of Parking and Transportation, likened the bus’ computer board failure to simple wear-and-tear.
“Imagine if you drove your own car for 13 hours a day non-stop,” Tindel said. “Some pieces and parts would [eventually] stop working.” Tindel said she is thankful for the school’s great relationship with their mechanic and how quickly the Gold Route bus was restored.
There is an arrangement, however, for when buses cannot be repaired so quickly. KSU has a “good contract with a great car provider,”Tindel said. This means that if a bus can’t make its route, other busses are available, which is why one can occasionally spot a B.O.B. missing some of the KSU transportation logos.
Despite the bus’ speedy recovery, some students, like Michael Jin, were caught without a ride. Jin, A freshman studying Computer Science, was stranded on campus by the out-of-commission bus with no way to get back to his off-campus home. Jin compared the feeling of not being able to get home to “knowing that he just failed an exam” because he was “out of luck.”
Computer problems were not the only hardships experienced by KSU’s buses last week. Just days after “Unit 211” was taken to have its board repaired, a student ran into the back of another B.O.B. There were no resulting injuries and no reported damage to the bus, but there was some damage to the student’s car. The driver of the car was cited by police.
