With the addition of a new van, long waits to use the Campus Escort Services soon might be a thing of the past.

Mark Matthews, assistant director of the Campus Safety Department, said the van will be used for both the daytime Catcab program, which transports injured or handicapped students to and from class, and the night escort service, which shuttles students to and from campus. No Ohio laws require universities to have such services, he said.

"The hope is that with two buses going at the same time we will be able to drive more students in less time, eliminating long waits," Matthews said.

While the second bus, purchased in July, might be a welcomed change among some students, others still have complaints about the service.

Matthews said students have complained most about the long wait before pickups. With the addition of the new van, which will eliminate nearly all walking escorts, the service will become more efficient, he said.

Another complaint comes from off-campus residents because the service does not run between off-campus destinations. Its $60,000 budget does not allow for off-campus trips, Matthews said.

"When students decide to live off-campus, they are no longer under the safety of Ohio University. Instead, the city of Athens now protects them," Matthews said.

Other students have complained about Catcab's punctuality. When sophomore Yvette Nepper broke her ankle in May, she found herself dependent on campus escort to get to class.

"It was rather frustrating at times when I used to stand outside of Computer Services Center for over half an hour wondering if they were ever going to come," she said. "Other times they never even showed up to take me to and from class."

Nepper stopped attending two of her classes because of such complications, she said.

Sophomore Henry Streby used the service after an injury in January. On one occasion, he waited 45 minutes for campus escort after class, only to find out that the driver already picked up his own girlfriend.

"I felt like a stranger in someone else's car," Streby said. "Both of them did not even acknowledge that I was there - like I was a hindrance to their more important plans."

Matthews said he urges students to call him if they have a complaint.

"Certain instances of misconduct by the student drivers in the past have been dealt with because in no way do I condone those activities," he said.

But drivers are doing the best they can with their limited resources, Matthews said. Pedestrian traffic and a long list of passengers complicate the situation, he said.

Taking students to class is their priority, so students needing a ride home should expect delays, Matthews said. The addition of the second van should alleviate some of these problems.

However, funding constraints still limit the service, he said.

Student Senate soon will be looking into ways to increase the service's funding, said Residence Life Commissioner Jeff Owen. More community involvement would eliminate some of the program's limitations, he said.

"If students have to wait for over a half an hour, many will say 'forget it,'" he said. "That inconvenience seems unreasonable."

Owen said he urges students to contact the Campus Escort Service or Student Senate if they have a complaint with the program because that is one way things can be changed. But for improvements to occur, the service needs more money.

"In a perfect world, we would be allotted a million dollars and would be able to drive students on and off campus 24 hours a day for free," Matthews said.