While UB waits for its new fleet of customized buses to hit the pavement in May, students have been surprised and annoyed to discover a downgrade in bus quality when they've expected the opposite.
An alternate fleet, ranging from luxury limousines to yellow school buses, has taken over during the past two weeks for many of the soon-to-be-replaced Coach USA buses.
According to transportation officials, Coach USA has encountered maintenance problems with its usual fleet, so UB has accommodated the company by allowing Coach USA to sub-contract local transportation services to fulfill its contract with the university.
At the end of this semester, Cognisa will replace Coach USA as UB's sole transportation provider after 25 years of service.
Chris Austin, the adjudication and transportation coordinator of Parking and Transportation Services, said there was no connection between the change in buses and Coach USA's upcoming termination of service.
"This could have happened at any given time," Austin said. "The maintenance issues could have happened last semester."
Some students said they suspect the contract has played a role in the change.
"I think they're probably just bitter that their contract wasn't being renewed," said Jesika Gonzalez, a junior political science major. "They're claiming to have problems so they can embarrass us by making us ride around in yellow buses."
Others said they simply hope that whatever the buses look like, they arrive on time.
"As long as they get me to classes on time, that's all that matters," said Steve Stocking, a sophomore theatre major.
According to Austin, while the yellow school buses do meet the requirements for service, they don't meet the comfort level that most students want, or are used to.
"They do serve the purpose of getting students between campuses for the few days they were in service," Austin said.
Some students, like Stocking, also expressed concerns over the amount of space on the temporary buses.
"They don't hold many people and I have already been experiencing problems with buses not carrying enough passengers," Stocking said.
Bill Boulden, a junior computer science major, said this situation is just another in a long line of issues with the bus system at UB.
"I hope next year these problems will be solved," he said.
Current plans call for Coach USA to return its regular buses to service at a rate of one or two per week. According to Austin, the current top priority is to ensure there are enough vehicles for the students.
"We want to ensure we have the quantity of buses necessary to get the students between campuses," Austin said.
