Bus service is a source of great frustration for many students. So far, increasing the number of buses in circulation seems impossible, so Penn State must look at alternatives.

I'm not an expert in whatever field this is, but these seem like good ideas.

Make bus (re)scheduling a student project. Every semester, engineering and economics students write papers that go to waste ... well, make them research and come up with ways to tackle this and other university-wide problems.

Eliminate obviously unnecessary stops. In my opinion, it seems like the Kern Building stop of the Town Loop is incredibly close to the library and Rec Hall stops. So is the stop on the Campus Loop between Hammond Building and the Greyhound bus station. Also, merging the Forum and library stops of the Town Loop seems like a good idea.

Equip every bus with a GPS system linked to a tracking Web site. This would save students from wasting time and fighting the weather while waiting for a bus that is 25 minutes away.

Implement a "Bus Plan" (like a meal plan) in which students are assigned a number of "rides" per week based on special needs, schedules and distance between classes. This would discourage students from taking the bus for short distances.

While these are just a few options to be considered, the point is that bus service is a big part of students' lives and the Undergraduate Student Government and the university should address it with more interest.