A possible budget deficit that might cause service cutbacks in the Student Association Mass Transit System cast a shadow over Monday night’s committee meeting.

Last year, the board predicted a surplus of about $110,000, but actually have about $62,000. “This difference was created because of over-estimation of student fees,” said Mass Transit Graduate Assistant Cyro Gazola.

The “big deviation” was caused by a small error in estimation made by the President’s Fee Study Commission when the number of chargeable student credit hours was calculated, Gazola said. So far, the mass transit projected budget is $16,740 “in the red,” he said.

The fee study over-estimation has been made “two years in a row,” said Mass Transit Adviser Dave Pack. “Something needs to be looked into,” he said.

About 98 percent of the money for the mass transit system comes from student fees charged per credit hour. Students currently pay $2.42 per credit hour for the mass transit system. The remaining 2 percent comes from advertising and other miscellaneous sources.

The Late Nite Ride Service also is feeling a budget crunch. The service is “in jeopardy of stopping mid-semester,” said Director Michael Cassman.

Cassman originally calculated the ride service budget last year with employee salaries at $3.65 per hour, but a campus-wide wage hike bumped the rate up to $4 per hour.

The “wage increase creates waves in people’s budgets,” Pack said.

In other mass transit business, advertising space on Route 3,4 and 7 is sold out, and other routes are between 75 and 80 percent full for the rest of the semester, said Pi Sigma Epsilon representative Janet Palmeri.

The advertising profits, however, are not large enough to ease the projected deficit in the budget.

Each spring, the board accepts bids from student organizations. PSE will handle all the mass transit advertising this year and will earn 40 percent of the profits, while the other 60 percent will go to the busing account. PSE also held the advertising contract last year.

The possibility of adding or changing a stop on the 3A bus route was suggested by Jody Jancaric to better serve the Greek Row ridership. An additional stop might be added between stop 10 and 11.

The suggestion will have to be examined, but Huskie Line Director Charlie Batista said, “Putting bus stops within 100 feet of each other only increases running time.”