Controversial 'drunk bus' coming back
What has become known as the "drunk bus" at The College at Brockport will be reinstated after a two-week cancellation.
But this time, the late-night bus, which has taken students to and from Main Street in the village of Brockport, hopes to change its reputation.
A Brockport University Police or village police officer will be on board. And student volunteer monitors also are supposed to be on hand to help out.
"Starting next week, the shuttle will be up and running," said college spokesman John Follaco on Wednesday and noted that college officials will continue to search for a long-term solution.
The bus, formally called Eagle Run on Activity Route 3, ran from 9:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays — picking up students at various points on campus and surrounding neighborhoods and taking them to Main Street and back.
On April 1, a memo to students announcing the end of this route was sent out by Kathryn Wilson, vice president for enrollment management and student affairs at the college, and Dana Weiss, executive director of the Brockport Auxiliary Service Corp.
"Due to the ongoing dangerous and injurious behavior exhibited by a large number of students on the late night Eagle Run," says the memo, "a decision has been made to discontinue Activity Route 3."
The memo said that ongoing monitoring showed "problematic patterns of behavior," which included harassment of the bus drivers, students improperly exiting through the emergency door, fighting, vomiting, impeding the bus by standing or jumping in front of it and vandalizing the bus.
The college's decision prompted the Brockport Student Government on Friday to adopt a resolution that calls for taking "steps to address any student safety and behavior issues on an individual basis without discontinuing Activity Route 3."
In making its case, the resolution notes that the bus reduced the number of students who attempt to drive while under the influence of alcohol.
Weiss and Wilson made the decision on Tuesday to reinstate the late-night bus.
Student Government Vice President Will Mitchell welcomed the return of the bus.
"If they follow through, I'd be glad that we can work together," Mitchell said.
Student Government President Sean Ferguson sent out an email to students on Wednesday telling of the reinstatement of the route and concluded by saying: "We need to change and we need all of you to make it happen."
Imani Lawrence, who is a 22-year-old senior at the college, has used the late-night bus for the past three years. She has lived on campus, in housing to the west of campus and now on Main Street.
Lawrence said that while she's heard others describe some of the misbehavior noted by the college, she has not personally witnessed it.
But she did say the worst time is around 2 a.m. when the bars close.
The bus has seating for about two dozen, and even with people standing on the bus, there isn't enough room for all to get on, Lawrence said. And sometimes the buses aren't on time.
"I think the easiest solution is to add another bus to the route, provide more timely transportation and add monitors," she said.
Nazareth College, Rochester Institute of Technology, the State University College at Geneseo and the University of Rochester are among local colleges that have various late-night bus services — usually on weekend nights — to off-campus sites.
How these arrangements work varies with the college.
At UR, according to the Office of the Dean of Students website, a committee was convened in spring 2008 to address concerns related to student organizations providing transportation to local bars in the Rochester community.
Incidents had surfaced of intoxicated students becoming unruly at bus stops, vomiting on buses and needing medical assistance upon return to campus, said the Dean of Students' account.
A serious incident back then prompted the immediate suspension of these bar nights and the creation of a Bar Night Review Committee.
Under the current policy, students can charter bus service to off-campus events through the Office of the Dean of Students.
Approval from the Bar Night Review Committee is needed for any charter bus taking students to locations whose primary purpose is to serve alcohol.
JGOODMAN@Democratand Chronicle.com