By Amy Thon

Editor in chief

Student Government members say it is unlikely the university will be able to reach a transportation contract for a shuttle bus for next year without a fee increase.

“If (Student Senate) doesn’t recommend an increase, we won’t be able to provide a shuttle service next year,” said Student Body President Katie Cox.

The Student Senate would have to approve an increase in the current fee of $5.60. Eastern’s Board of Trustees also would have to approve the increase. Cox said the Student Senate would survey students before the fee was approved.

The shuttle bus was shut down indefinitely just before Spring Break as administration and Student Government officials look for a new company to run the shuttle bus system. The old company, H&H Transportation of Charleston, mutually agreed with the university to terminate its contract to run the two Panther Express buses in March because the company could not provide the bus service at the price it bid.

Adam Weyhaupt, senate speaker, said he is not sure how much of an increase will be necessary next year.

“There’s a variety of options. Almost any option for next semester would necessitate an increase,” he said. “We hope to have all the options definite and ready to present to Student Senate by Wednesday night.”

The university also has had difficulty reaching a contract with a transportation company for the remainder of this semester, Cox said.

“The main reason we can’t find anyone at the cost we can afford is that no one is interested in going into a contract with the university for five or six weeks,” Cox said. “We’re pretty much running out of alternatives. We worked all through break on it.”

H&H, which won the shuttle bus contract over two competitors with a bid of $53,998 last summer, recently submitted a new bid of at least $74,000, but the higher price was “cost-prohibitive.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Lou Hencken is working to find alternate transportation to replace the shuttle. Cox said the university did not begin looking for alternate transportation earlier because they were close to reaching a contract several times, but the contract fell through at the last minute for monetary reasons.