OK guys, it must be time to take some action over the situation of the IUJ Bus.
Last Monday, I arrived back from Tokamachi where I had stayed with a friend for the weekend, and discovered that the IUJ Bus was canceled due to it being 'IUJ Foundation Day', a holiday not even marked on the calendar as it is not national. It was a bright day so I was able to walk back, but more worrying were the people with me at the bus stop who lived in Urasa. They had a choice between a ￥1600 taxi or not going to class - needless to say they decided not to attend.
With our campus being so isolated and in the middle of nowhere, it is imperative that IUJ provides a convenient and frequent bus service. Currently, it stops at 6pm and dosnt run on Sundays, which is just shameful.
What if we want to buy something that we forgot on Sunday? Now, we can just walk to 7/11, but in the winter the 2 meters of snow will put a stop to that. What if we want to eat off campus, away from the "food" that is from Shokudo? Fancy a drink off campus, or a trip to the bowling alley (Muikamachi) or cinema (Nagaoka), then you have to pay for expensive taxis.
This is a problem that has to be dealt with. Our ￥1.9m per year tuition demands a better bus service!
6 comments:
I agree with you 100%. But I think thats because the administration is in a tight financial situation so they are trying to cut costs in any way possible.
Few Suggestions:
1. One thing that I think administration can very easily do is inform all students by email about any holidays when IUJ Bus is not going to operate. It would really help!
2. An evening bus service on Sunday to Urasa
3. We can also do a student/faculty run bus service. No need for the drivers anymore. We can make a schedule such that a student makes one or two trips per week taking the bus to Urasa.
Maybe GSO can step in to convey this concern and suggestions.
I think there may be liability reasons discouraging point #3...but you're right. At least point 1 they can do. and maybe one or two runs to urasa on sunday could work..
as for foundation day, it is labeled on the school academic calendar. It should have been more clearly indicated however, that bus service was canceled for that day.
Yes, I agree with Rich - I heard that a student bus had been suggested before, but the plan failed because of similar reasons to what he said.
Whilst I accept that IUJ has financial concerns, they need to be made to understand that now that there is no evening or weekend shop opening, it is more important than ever that they extend the bus hours.
Two more suggestions: Firstly, it seems to me that IUJ employs both drivers all day on alternate buses, meaning that whilst one drives, the other sits in the guard office and drinks tea! If they employed the drivers on a shift basis, they could run the bus longer for no extra labor costs.
Secondly, there is a local bus that stops at the 7/11 close to IUJ. It is just too far away, but if it could be persuaded to change its route and stop outside campus, it would reduce the pressure on IUJ to improve the bus service.
I am 200% with you guys! The service must be improved. The current financial appeared only because of the poor management and inefficient use of resources and I do not see why we - students - should be the ones to suffer.
To cut the costs does not mean reduce the customer value, does it?
ryuj is right about local bus service, but that bus service was there probably for decades, the same as IUJ, and considering that until now administration did not have any attempts to include IUJ in the bus route, it is unlikely to happen. At least I am very pessimistic about it.
jawad, you are right as well, they started to reduce costs very recently, but the sad truth is that IUJ bus service hasn't been any more convenient even before the "crisis".
My suggestion is a bit radical, but I think it could have work. We could write the major complaints (bus, shop, shokudo, ATM service, etc.) in big font on huge paper and put it at the announcement boards for the coming 25th anniversary. I am absolutely sure that if some of the executive guests will notice that, IUJ administration will be obliged to act.
But again I do not think anyone will do it, because of the scholarship concerns. Simply saying - 1st year is afraid, 2nd year - doesn't care any more.
Said but true
Absolutely ridiculous... I agree!
We do need to improve the service, and I appreciate that people here have taken the time to make useful suggestions that can be discussed in the upcoming GSO meetings.
My suggestion is that the bus is not a personal taxi service, nor should it be, but... in certain circustances we should be allowed to book it in advance (either online, or via a sign-up form).
For example, if we know that a group needs to go to a certain location at a certain time, then maybe with a pre-agreed minimum lead time, such as 48 hrs, or 1 week even, then a group could book the bus to take them to say Jusco.
There should be no such thing as an "instant call service", that's not what students expect. But sometimes, people REALLY need to go somewhere, either for a conference as a group, to pick up food/supplies for a special event, or, for example, to go to the only nearby Swimming Pool as a Swimming Club.
In this sense, the service should be flexible... what's the point of having an aimless position where the bus only makes 4 trips per day yet IUJ pays a salary for the drivers to sit around idly the rest of the time?
And as for timings of the schedule... which are set in stone, why should we dance to their tune, we're paying the bills here.
The goal of this blog is improving our lives here at IUJ, and to that end, this debate is a perfect use of the blog.
Now, since GSO-EC is in a transition period, we'd like to invite any and all to share their ideas and input as we begin to gather data and make a case for the improvement of the bus services.
With GSO-EC elections coming up in the Fall, this will undoubtedly be an important issue. Please continue to press this issue, and if you're passionate, consider running for GSO-EC to fix the situation!
We thank you for your continued support on this through the 2007-2008 Academic Year!
GSO-EC
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