The Panther Express will resume limited service at 7:30 this morning.

In a 21-3-2 vote, the Student Senate Wednesday endorsed a proposal made by Vice President for Student Affairs Lou Hencken that would retain H & H Transportation of Charleston to run the bus service through the end of the school year.

Earlier this month, H & H reached a mutual agreement with the university to terminate its contract to run two shuttle buses around campus and to off-campus destinations such as Mattoon, the Square, Wal-Mart Supercenter, and Wilb Walker’s after H & H owner Scott Harrison said that the company could not afford to run the service for the price they bid.

Under the new contract, said Senate Speaker Adam Weyhaupt, only one bus will run. As a result, service to Mattoon will no longer be offered, and there will be a longer wait between buses.

Weyhaupt said, the bus will stop at Carman Hall two times per hour rather than the seven times per hour detailed under the old contract.

The new contract will pay H & H $42 per hour of service. Under the old contract, with two buses, H & H was paid a flat rate averaging $55,177, or about $23 per hour, Hencken said.

Since H & H was paid monthly under the old contract, Hencken said, the university will be able to pay for the new contract out of the original shuttle bus budget, which was collected from student fees last fall.

Many senate members disagreed with the proposal because H & H would remain the operator of the bus system.

“How many times do we have to get burned by this bus company?” asked senate member James Paton. “They have unreliable service … and they underbid by such an extreme amount that it’s ridiculous.

“We’re better off without the shuttle at this point,” he said.

Hencken said the university retained H & H to run the Panther Express since no other companies were interested in operating a bus system for only six weeks.

“If you want a bus, it’s H & H right now,” said Student Body President Katie Cox.

Hencken said while it was easy to blame H & H for the shuttle bus troubles, people needed to understand the company also suffered as well.

“This has not been fun for H & H either since (it) was losing money,” he said. “(Harrison) feels bad, and I think he will bend over backward to run everything on time, and the way we want it.”

Hencken said the university will continue to seek bids for next year’s shuttle bus contract through April 9.

Specifically, the university is seeking a three-year contract, with an option for a two-year renewal. he said.

Hencken said the bids will be opened April 9, and placed before the Student Senate April 11. The senate will then decide which company to hire.