Completely frozen and numb, I spent my Saturday night waiting for the snail-like No. 7 Huskie Bus. My usual weekend Wal-Mart trip turned into what seemed like another ice age as it took the bus more than 40 minutes to arrive. While nearly freezing to death, I pondered: Are the buses running as fast as they could be?

The Huskie Bus Line provides the only method of rapid public transportation in the DeKalb and Sycamore area. That said, many students without cars depend on it as their primary mode of transportation.

Some of the buses that service Greek Row, Echo Park and the residence hall areas run slightly more frequently, but why not the Sycamore Road area, as well?

I was not the only person waiting for the bus that night. To my left was a young mother and her child. This reminded me that not only NIU students rely on the Huskie Bus. To my right were other students, one of which was just as angry as I was.

“I waited for an hour and it was really cold,” said freshman psychology major Linh Tran .

In the last few weeks, the campus has been hit with harsh weather. All the buses, especially the No. 7, should be running more frequently this time of the year.

Furthermore, some students living in off-campus apartments also rely on the Huskie Bus.

“[The bus] is pretty inconsistent,” said junior psychology major Michelle Powers .

Powers lives off campus and relies on the No. 2 Bus everyday.

“[The No. 2] has skipped entire routes before,” she said.

Many students, including myself, have noticed that the bus often does not run on schedule.

“[The bus is] supposed to come every 20 minutes. Sometimes it doesn’t even do that,” Powers said.

Moreover, the buses tend to be completely packed when they do finally arrive, especially during the winter.

“I’m always waiting and waiting, and when it finally comes, [the bus] is always so crowded,” Tran said.

Sometimes, the bus has to leave students outside because it is full to capacity. This leaves those students stranded until the next bus.

I suggest hiring more drivers and using more buses. Students pay enough in fees to, in theory, make this possible. This would give more students jobs and make commuting easier for the rest of us.

In the meantime, students will just have to deal with the cold and pray for the bus to arrive.