The newly-formed Shuttle Bus Committee will be working to introduce corporate advertising on the shuttle, updating route signs and stops and maybe phasing out the student-fee that supports the bus system.

Committee chair Ronnie Deedrick said the Student Senate created the committee to take on the previous shuttle bus duties of the vice president for student affairs, the student body president and the speaker of the Student Senate.

To gauge a starting point for their plans, committee members will take shuttle rides to see which stops are used or are not used and seek student feedback from bus patrons.

“We’re going to need student input,” he said.

Deedrick said the committee may contemplate adding a stop at the University Apartments.

He also said the committee, which consists of students, administrators and faculty, will look into drawing in companies to advertise on the bus.

Many students are not aware that they pay a fee and that the shuttle service is available, Deedrick said. So, the committee will also make plans to advertise about the shuttle bus’ availability.

He said even though the ridership numbers are up from last year, the bus is still under used.

Deedrick said he is not completely sure if eventually phasing out the shuttle bus fee is an attainable goal or not. A possible avenue to achieving this goal is getting businesses involved in its funding.

The committees “strategic plan of growth” will span over the next two years, Deedrick said. Some possibilities for growth may include adding another bus or finding a way for faculty members to use the bus.

Two other goals Deedrick has is to restore the old signs that designate stops and getting the shuttle bus web page up and running again.

Signs are currently standing on an old route, Deedrick said.

The committee consists of an administrator, a faculty member, a community member, a company representative, two Student Senate members and four non-Student Senate members.

Two of those members were approved at last week’s senate meeting. They were Deedrick as the chair and Ken Bauer as a non-Student Senate member. The rest of the committee has been appointed and will be approved at this week’s senate meeting.

The rest of the committee will consist of Shirley Stewart, interim vice president for student affairs, Bud Fischer, a biological sciences professor, Dean Johns, representative of H & H Transportation, and Kelli Mayes, Stina Heldmann and Matt Mills as non-Student Senate members. There is not yet a community member on the committee, Deedrick said.

The entire committee will meet at least once a month, Deedrick said, but the students on the committee will meet at least twice per month.