Ben Smidt

Due to the state’s budget problems, the proposal of a late-night bus service for students was dropped, said Gwen Van Den Heuvel, the city transit manager.

The idea came from student senators in October, said sophomore Kevin Funk, Student Senate’s transportation and safety affairs chair.

The service proposed two buses running Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights until about 3 a.m. It would be a version of the university routes – Stein Boulevard and Water Street, Van Den Heuvel said. The service would also have added a route to Oakwood Mall until 12 a.m., in the idea that students could catch late-night movies, Van Den Heuvel said.

An amendment was made to the 2002 budget, and the City Council approved providing the services, Van Den Heuvel said.

But it was always contingent upon the university paying the full local share, which is 40 percent, Van Den Heuvel said. The other 60 percent would be from state and federal funds, Funk said.

The service, which would have started in the fall of 2002, would have cost the university $22,000 for a semester and $52,000 for a full year, Van Den Heuvel said.

“Because of the expense, it got to the point where we weren’t willing to pay that much for it,” Funk said.

But there is wide support in Student Senate for the idea, Funk said, and it could be revisited in the future if there is money available.