The Student Association Mass Transit Board will vote Monday on proposals to decrease NIU handicapped transportation services by as much as 50 percent because not enough students are using the service.

Linn Sorge, Services for Handicapped Students coordinator, said, “Right now, only four out of the seven students at NIU who need to use this service are capable of using it because the van is inadequate. The chairlift on the van is designed for children-sized wheelchairs. The students who have standard-sized wheelchairs are unable to ride the van.”

Dave Emerick, SA Mass Transit Board vice chairman, said, “To my understanding, the proper specifications weren’t given when the van was ordered and that is why it doesn’t work.”

There are about 15 mobility-disabled students at NIU who rely on the service throughout the week and the weekend, Sorge said, adding she expects “at least 10 more disabled students next year.”

“We allow the severely visually-disabled students to ride the van only on the weekends simply because the van can’t be used enough by the students in wheelchairs,” Sorge said.

Student Association President Jim Fischer said, “Last year, the Mass Transit Board offered no handicapped transportation service. I don’t want to cut the transportation service, but I want to work with other groups to run the service in a different manner.

“I agree that the van is inadequate and hopefully something will be done about it soon,” Fischer said.

NIU handicapped student Sue Haas said, “I will be attending the board meeting Monday to state my case, declare what we (handicapped students) need it for and present a petition.

“The service just started after Thanksgiving break and they are already proposing to decrease it. We are fee-paying students, too,” Haas said.

The handicap bus runs on campus and throughout DeKalb from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the week, noon to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, Handicapped Services reported.

Haas said, “One possibility is that the bus would stop running at 5 p.m. during the week. Some of us have night classes and meetings to go to and we wouldn’t be safe out alone at night.”

Emerick said, “There are three options that we will vote on. keeping it the same, paying 70 percent (of its operational costs) or paying 50 percent.

“I feel that the Mass Transit Board is doing something that the university should be looking into. The university should be doing something to address the issue of handicapped student transportation on campus,” he said.

The DeKalb Voluntary Action Transvac bus offers minimal service to NIU students. Haas said Transvac runs from 7 a.m. to around 5 or 6 p.m. during the week and does not run on weekends. Students must call two to three days in advance for a ride. “The SA service is ‘call and response.’ They usually arrive within five to ten minutes after you call,” Haas said.