By Jenna Kirkman
URBANA, IL – FEBRUARY 22, 2005
Groups of shivering students congregated around countless bus stops today on the University of Illinois campus at Urbana-Champaign.
According to WeatherBug, the high reached 36 degrees Fahrenheit today, and the low was 28 degrees. On days like these, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus system becomes a student’s best friend.
“It’s so much faster, and much better than walking to my far away classes. And it’s especially great for cold days,” UIUC student Daisy Medina said, while waiting outside the Illinois Street Residence Halls for the 22 Illini bus. The 22 Illini bus follows an Engineering Campus route, along with a PAR/FAR route. Together, the two bus paths cover almost all crucial University destinations, and they arrive at bus stops as often as every 10 minutes, or sometimes sooner. With such great ground coverage and prompt access, one can see why so many students have made a habit out of hopping on these large, blue and white beasts.
“The 22 Illini is my favorite. Sometimes I will grab another bus, like the 26 Pack if it pulls up next to me, because it goes on a similar route. But I mostly use the 22,” Medina claimed. Medina said she mostly succumbs to an addictive bus riding routine in the winter months. Other students choose to disregard the day’s forecast.
“I take the bus every day to class, no matter what the weather is like,” said student, Imran Kamchwala, as he stepped inside the bus-stop shelter to block the ear-numbing wind, “Unless I was really, really early, and it was really nice out, I would always rather take the bus.”
The 30-degree weather may not be Kamchwala’s main motive for riding, but it certainly proves to be UIUC student Kate Bandur’s top reason.
“It’s so cold!” she stated, as she pulled her hood up over her ears, and hid her already glove-covered hands in her coat pockets. Frigid winter conditions seem to be Bandur’s only reason for taking the bus.
“I would definitely walk instead of riding the bus to class if the weather were nicer. I love walking through the Quad on nice, warm days. It’s so beautiful!” she said, as she spotted the 22 Illini Engineering Campus bus pulling up to the stop light down the street. Bandur and other riders made their way toward the curb and anxiously waited to climb aboard the warm, welcoming giant. However, once the bus arrived, most students found themselves still waiting in the cold outside the bus doors. Riders are commonly forced to wait until everyone inside has squeezed together to make room for more people.
“The buses always seem way more crowded in the winter,” Medina said. “I know that I, personally, take the bus a lot more when the weather is so cold, than I do when it starts to get nicer out.”
Kamchwala agreed.
“Yeah, I would be more likely to take the bus in the winter, probably,” he said, but then added, “but I guess I pretty much always take the bus anyway.” Kamchwala’s bus-addicted ways can be summed up by Bandur’s thoughts on the University’s bus system.
“I think that weather has a lot to do with people taking buses,” she stated. “If it’s super cold or rainy, most people will take the bus. But for the most part, I think students are just plain lazy!”
