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After being turned down by a student fee committee last Spring, Transportation Services is moving ahead with installing tracking devices on Shuttle-UM buses.

The devices, called a Global Positioning System, will enable students to look up the exact time a bus will arrive through the Internet, via cell phones and at nearly every shuttle stop.

The system will include pay phone-sized machines installed at roughly 40 shuttle stops, where students can push a button to display how many minutes away the bus is from arriving. There will also be a screen that shows the arrival in Stamp Student Union, much like the ones at Metro stations, Transportation Services Director David Allen said.

The idea for a GPS system originated last year but was turned down by the Campus Transportation Advisory Committee and the Student Fee Review Committee because they said it would raise student fees by $12 per student, said Kevin Rodkey, representative of the chair of the Campus Affairs Committee. Transportation Services gets its budget from a mix of parking, bus chartering and student fees.

Allen said the GPS program would not increase student fees because the money was already budgeted. After getting new Shuttle-UM buses this semester, Allen said officials found they did not have to pay for them until next year.

The surplus money would go toward installing the GPS system, Allen said. The system - which will cost about $300,000 - could be installed by next semester, but will definitely be in by fall 2006, Allen said.

Allen said the change comes because they want to make the shuttle system more safe, efficient and accessible to students.

University Police Spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell said the system would help keep people safe because it will give people more information about where the shuttles are.

University Commuter Association President Jahantab Siddiqui said it will be important for commuter students because they can eliminate their time standing outside waiting for the bus, especially at night.

Instead of waiting around alone outside, a student can wait inside a building and arrive at the stop the same time the shuttle arrives, Siddiqui said.

Students agreed it would help keep them safe, but they were more excited about how it would result in spending less time waiting for the bus.

"If I knew how far away the bus was, I could study or get something to eat in the union, and not just sit and wait," junior engineering major Jeff Szrom said. "I was just thinking the other day that they needed something like a GPS system."

Sophomore history and education major Courtney Matis said it would help her avoid being late to class.

Some students, however, aren't sure if the system is worth it.

"It seems like the cost would outweigh the benefits," senior math major Derek Winkler said. "It's a nice feature, but fancy gadgets only go so far. With tuition costs going up, I would rather see that money go to something else that could better benefit students."

Contact reporter Emily Yahr at yahrdbk@gmail.com.

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