Another common cry among frequent shuttle riders is that there should be more shuttles and more frequent service to heavy transit areas such as Currier and Memorial Hall.

Tempesta, who acknowledges that the shuttle system is not perfect, says plans are in the works for further improvements. To alleviate the overcrowding problem at lunchtime, he says a second bus was recently added to the 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. time slot on weekdays.

But the overcrowded conditions are especially evident during the early morning runs between Currier and Memorial Hall. A mass of people usually gather outside of Currier and immediately begin fighting for position by the shuttle doors as it rolls to a stop.

"People are vicious in the morning," says Johanna A. Amianda '95, a Currier resident. "When it's raining and I've tried to get on the bus, I've gotten elbowed and pushed. Everyone wants to get on, but it gets so crowded that the driver has to shut the door. It's survival of the fittest."

Some students who have supposedly been accommodated with special stops also say they are unhappy with the service.

"Most of the time they don't stop at 29G," says Margarita L. Laplaza '96. "One morning this [shuttle] driver saw me standing there at 29G and I waved to him. Even though he was stopped at a red light he just saw me wave at him, but he didn't even wait. He just left."

Tempesta says the shuttle service constantly monitors the routes to make sure the drivers are at the designated spots on schedule.

"We're trying to set up a tracking system to see if we have a problem with a certain shuttle's schedule," Tempesta says. "If we see that a shuttle's continuously late to a certain stop, we'll have to change the schedule to accomodate that."

Color-coded schedules will soon be published to alleviate the ambiguity surrounding the routes, Tempesta says. He also says the service might consider better lighting and rain shelter for the stops in the future.

Full-time driver and student-driver coordinator Richard W. Aufiero says that innovations, including more shuttle runs, are not easy to implement because the shuttle system operates under limited financial funding.

The shuttles system operates with a "breakeven" annual expense budget of more than $400,000, most of which covers salaries and maintenance, Tempesta says.

With over 60 weekly shifts, Aufiero says there are about 20 student drivers, supplemented by six "casual" drivers who are hired at union wages to work the morning and day shifts when the student drivers have classes.

Most students work about two shifts of four or five hours each week, earning $7.40 per hour the first semester and $7.85 per hour after that, Tempesta says.

One justification for more shuttle runs is that the buses are often well over their passenger capacity.

Student drivers Frank Fronhofer '93 and Mike P. Twohig '92-93 say they have had 68 and 67 passengers, respectively, on their shuttles.