The Student Association Mass Transit Board might have found a solution to the problem of providing handicapped transportation this winter.

Although board members have not seen the vehicle yet, the transit board is looking into the possibility of purchasing a used, handicapped-accessible van from TRANSVAC within a month.

At the board’s meeting Monday, Chairman Dave Emerick said the van is “high up on our option list, if not the top item. It would solve a lot of our problems.”

TRANSVAC, a handicapped transportation service in DeKalb, will sell the van for about $200, excluding repair costs, Emerick said. If the board is able to purchase the van, it would cover “a major part, if not all” of the handicapped transportation that students will need on campus during winter daytime hours. Emerick said the van’s capacity is 18 to 22 passengers.

TRANSVAC Executive Director Robert Brayfield said that if engine work is completed on the van, it probably will be suitable for use on campus.

“If it fits (the transit board’s) needs, we’d be happy to make an arrangement,” he said.

Also at Monday’s meeting, Paul Johnson, Huskie Line general manager, said that as far as he knew, no one rode a Huskie Bus supplied through the transit board for the political awareness festival Oct. 14.

The transit board approved $30 of SA funding for the bus, which was provided for about two hours. The bus was intended to pick up students at residence halls and bring them to the festival.

“It would not surprise me if ridership was low. The times I saw the bus, no one was on it.” Emerick said.

Although Emerick said he was upset that people did not ride the bus, he added he thought it provided “good advertisement” for the festival because it was decorated with festival information.

SA President Paula Radtke said that if the advertisement on the bus “got ten people to vote, it was worth it. I don’t think money was wasted.”