Miami Student

Issue date: 9/18/07 Section: Campus

Miami Metro's contract with Laidlaw Transit is up for renewal in August 2008. --Alex Hancock/The Miami Student

The Miami Metro's contract with Laidlaw Transit has been in effect for over a year now, and many bus drivers who made the switch from Hamilton Tours to Laidlaw are upset-for themselves and for students.

"We went from dealing with a small company of two people, an owner and a manager who was there every day, to a major corporation," said Tom Chase, a Miami Metro driver for the past nine years. "They're the biggest in the country, and a lot of people here haven't worked for big corporations."

According to Chase, part of the problem with the transition was that the buses under Hamilton Tours had been working the "bugs" out of the system for years and had finally gotten the routes and timetables straightened out when contract ended.

"Then everything changed and went downhill, and ridership dropped 40 percent their first year coming in," Chase said. "It's very frustrating to us, and the students complain about the buses not being on time … but there's nothing we can do about it, because we tell them who to call and then they don't answer the phones."

Laidlaw representatives were not available to comment on this issue.

Junior Stephanie Warner lives off-campus, and agreed that the buses always come either too early or too late.

"I ride the Metro because I don't like to walk really far all the time," Warner said. "But the buses are very unreliable."

Other students choose not to ride the Metro because they are unsure of how the system works.

"Even though I live far away (from campus) this year, I still try to avoid (riding the Metro) because the scheduling is confusing and unreliable when I'm trying to cut it close to class time," said senior Mark Mackey. "No one I know can understand it … no one really knows how it works and what all the colors mean."

Chase said students need to understand that they are the ones in control of how the buses operate.

"They don't realize it, but if (students) would organize and put their foot down things would change," he said.

According to William Shawver, director of purchases and central services, Miami's contract with Laidlaw is up for renewal Aug. 14, 2008. Miami has had this contract since August 2006. After 2008, it can be renewed every year for up to eight years. 

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