LTD...I love you, but sometimes I wonder.

This year, I'm fortunate enough to live on a bus line that serves the UO campus an average of two times an hour on school days, with up to five pickups outside my apartment complex during the "morning rush" hour of 9-10 a.m. and often with two buses making the 9:39 trip to campus -- the last one before my class starts at 10.

Figures, the day I have a midterm at 10 (meaning, I can't just miss class) is the day that the overflowing 9:39 bus, with its "Not In Service" sign glowing mockingly, passed by the stop at the corner of MLK at Kinsrow. The driver threw up his hands in defeat, like he couldn't believe it either, while still communicating the fact that unless we could make it to campus under our own power in less than 20 minutes, we were screwed.

The group of roughly 50 students, suddenly left without a ride to campus, sort of looked at each other and commented on the injustice of the situation. A few broke from the line and began walking to campus via the bike path that passes by Autzen Stadium. I went back to my apartment and retrieved my bike, and somehow I made it to campus, out of breath, with five minutes to spare.

In LTD's defense, they do a pretty good job considering the transit district is having a rough time economically. They've made service cuts year after year, with more routes on the chopping block for next year, including the Breeze shuttle which connects campus with Eugene Station, the 5th Street Public Market, the downtown post office and Valley River Center. At the same time, the ASUO, which pays LTD more than $100,000 per year (coming from student incidental fees), is faced with the dilemma of raising the I-fee to provide more money for this contract or keeping fees low enough for students to afford.

At the same time, I think there should be a special emphasis on certain routes frequented by students. Many students depend on the bus to get to school and around town. University students make up a significant portion of LTD's ridership, so every effort should be made to preserve and improve routes such as the 79x, which is the only reasonable transportation option for students living in the Harlow area who don't have cars.

Maybe this situation is what it takes to support the argument for better bus service for students.