The Student Experience Office (SEO) and the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) are issuing refunds to those who experienced delays and issues regarding heating during bus trips provided over reading week.
CUSA and Campus Activities Board Toronto collaborated to organize the Ride For Less program for Carleton students. The discounted program provided multiple buses from Carleton to Toronto, at $25 one way or $50 for a round trip.
Many students were displeased when the buses that were supposed to depart from Residence Commons at 10 a.m. on Jan. 13 did not arrive at the university until around 2 p.m.—nearly four hours later. There was also an issue with heating on one of the buses.
Jeremy Brzozowski, manager of the SEO, explained the delays experienced by riders were due to the extreme temperature conditions that day.
“The bus charter from Toronto took several extra hours to get all the buses inspected and commissioned,” Brzozowski said in an email. “In addition to the temperatures there was also the Basketball All-Star game in Toronto which had all the bus fleets at maximum usage.”
For Valentina Figueroa, a first-year journalism student who was on both bus trips, it wasn’t so much the waiting that agitated her, but the fact that the organizers did not provide a clear reason for the delay.
“[CUSA] didn’t prepare anything, I’m sure. And they didn’t tell us exactly what was happening. They should have told us from the beginning,” she said.
The Air Canada Centre was not the best place to use as a drop-off spot, Figueroa added, because the NBA All-Star Game made the area very busy.
Brzozowski explained the full amount would not be refunded to every student who paid for the program. The students on the bus with heating issues will have the full refund automatically added to their campus card, and all other students who experienced delays can pick up their compensation of $10 at the SEO.
“It was annoying, but it wasn’t CUSA’s fault,” said computer systems engineering student Brandon Mokrytzki, adding it is something he would do again because of the cheap price.
The Ride For Less program is something that will likely continue in the future, according to Brzozowski.
“We have expressed our frustration and concerns with the charter company and will have to evaluate further what we can do to improve this service,” he said.
