Council to Rent Buses to Groups for The Game

In addition to its regular shuttle bus service to Yale before The Game, the Undergraduate Council for the first time is allowing student groups and House committees to rent entire buses for their groups.

The council is charging $13 for one-way tickets and $20 for round-trip tickets to students buying tickets individually. Those groups wishing to rent a bus must pay for the entire bus, but can then sell individual bus tickets at whatever price they choose.

Buses will go to Yale on Friday and Saturday morning. They will return Saturday evening and Sunday.

Andre V. Moura '03, an organizer of the council's busing efforts, said the council negotiated a special price with the Brush Hill Transportation bus company due to the large volume of business.

"Individual groups wouldn't have gotten as good of a price," said.

Several House committees, including the Pforzheimer House Committee, have already asked the council about renting buses.

Residents of Pforzheimer House had already expressed significant interest in renting a House bus before they learned of the council's plans, according to Manuel A. Garcia '00, Pforzheimer House Committee president. The House now plans to rent one from council.

Pforzheimer residents praised the idea of a bus all their own.

"We thought people would like to ride down to the Game as a group rather than with a bunch of random people that they don't necessarily know," wrote Stephen G. Henry '00, who is organizing the trip for Pforzheimer, in an e-mail message.

Pforzheimer is planning to subsidize part of the cost of the trip for its residents out of House funds, according to Henry. Other House committees are also considering this, Moura said.

Other groups are also making plans to rent buses, although not through the council.

As in past years, the Black Student Association (BSA) is renting two buses, both of which are already nearly filled. The trip is open to BSA members and non-members.

The last time the council organized bus service to the Game, in 1997, demand for seats was so high that it had to hire more buses than originally planned.

The council has reserved enough buses for 800 students this year, the same number who used council busing in 1997. The bus company will allow the council to add more buses if interest is greater than anticipated

"We're trying to facilitate getting as many students as possible to the game," said Moura.

According to the athletic ticket office, many tickets are still available to The Game itself. These tickets cost $12 for students. The office is located in the Murr Center near Harvard Stadium.