The reflection of a bus driver's face normally can't be seen by the passengers riding in the back of the bus.
But with one of Capital Area Transportation Authority's four new 60-foot articulated buses, the image is clear each time the bus turns another MSU street corner.
"It's kind of like a Tilt-A-Whirl," said Pat Gilbert, director of marketing for CATA, about the new buses.
The new buses come equipped with a pivoting center, so it can still maneuver around corners as it transports 63 more people than the normal 40-foot CATA bus. Each articulated bus, which has a capacity of 180 people, cost $406,000, compared to the 40-foot buses, which cost $260,000 a piece.
"There are some real issues with transit on main campus," MSU police Deputy Chief Mike Rice said. "We're integrating a lot of things around mass transit. We've really come a long way."
Some students say the new CATA additions will combat problems with people getting stranded because a bus is too full.
"It gets crowded a lot. I've been left behind," said advertising sophomore Tyra Harris, while waiting for a bus on Grand River Avenue on Tuesday.
Almost 3 million rides were taken on campus during the 2002-03 academic year - a 23 percent increase from 2001-02.
Keeping that in mind, CATA and university officials were looking for a way to improve customer service for students, faculty and staff coming to campus in the fall.
The new buses will be placed on Route 26, which travels from Abbott Road to Chandler Road, Route 30, which is Spartan Village to Akers Hall, and Route 31, which is the Brody Complex to Hubbard Hall, because those have the highest concentration of riders during the school year, CATA officials said.
But not everyone is convinced the new buses will attract more riders.
"You can still get to where you need to without extra-long buses," political science and pre-law senior Charmaine Thomas said. Thomas said she wouldn't change her riding habits, just to use the new buses.
Although the new buses are larger, officials said they are not worried about an increased number of accidents on campus.
"It gets (around) better than the 40-foot bus," said Len Schmidt, campus operations manager.
CATA buses were involved in 21 accidents during the 2002-03 academic year, and were found to be at fault in six of those incidences, Rice said.
Another new addition to the CATA fleet is a cleaner filter system. The new articulated buses came equipped with the particulate filter, which reduces exhaust emissions in the air by 90 percent. CATA officials said the use of ultra-low fuel, in combination with the new filters, means the buses already meet the Environmental Protection Agency's 2006 standards.
"We have looked to improve fuel over the years. What was available at a low cost, technology-wise, wasn't there," said Dwight Smith, director of operations for CATA. "We have vehicles out there (now) that will be blowing out cleaner air than coming in."
CATA officials also announced Route 33, also known as the Campus Cruiser, will have an new route starting in the fall. Buses will travel from West Shaw Lane to Birch Road toward Wilson Hall and then proceed to Farm Lane, instead of traveling on Bogue Street. And for riders looking to get out to the Eastwood Towne Center from campus, Route 24 will be extended to provide such a service.
Those looking to purchase CATA bus passes can get the new magnetic swipe cards at the CATA campus center near Shaw Hall, the Department of Police and Public Safety, International Center, Union and in residence halls.
Staff writer Evan Rondeau contributed to this report.
Stephanie Korneffel can be reached at korneff2@msu.edu.
