LINK bus sightings are few and far between
LINK buses have been largely replaced with yellow school buses, causing confusion among students.
The familiar fleet of LINK buses have been largely absent from the CSB+SJU campuses to start the fall semester.
In their place has been yellow charter buses from Trobec’s Bus Service, which services the Sartell/St. Stephen and St. Cloud school districts.
Each bus is able to accommodate “77 school-aged children, three to a seat,” according to the Trobec’s website.
For decades, the LINK buses have more than just transported students between campuses—they’ve been the face of the partnership that defines the two colleges.
It is an essential component to the students’ education by sustaining the long- standing relationship between both campuses, roughly six miles apart.
According to CSB Archives, the two campuses began working together unofficially in 1955, as they worked together to offer adult education classes in St. Cloud.
The official cooperation between CSB and SJU began during the 1945-1946 academic school year, when a transportation schedule was first put in place for students to travel between the two campuses for class exchange.
Some students have not appreciated the change to yellow school buses and were even confused if the bus was associated with our school at the beginning of the year.
Julia Fryc, a student at the School of Theology at St. John’s noted, “I saw the yellow school bus, and I got on just hoping it was actually taking me to St. Ben’s,” Fryc said.
Others expressed a general sense of frustration with the new busing.
“They make us feel immature” CSB sophomore Jaylynn Mallak said.
“No one wants to see these big old yellow buses that remind me of first day of kindergarten,” CSB sophomore Lilli Webber said.
CSB first year Pamella Arellano Mariscal noticed the difference in size between the buses, and the discomfort of riding one clearly made for younger children.
“I had to squish my knees to my chest when riding to St. John’s. All my dignity flew out those tiny windows,” Arellano Mariscal said.
While the transportation department has not yet provided an official explanation behind the change and did not respond for comment at the time of publication, similar institutions have turned to outsourcing school-bus contractors amid driver shortages, a nationwide issue since COVID-19, and maintenance issues.
One student suggested that CSB+SJU should consider increasing the pay offered to LINK bus drivers to increase job incentive, if a shortage is the root of the problem.
“We need to pay our drivers more. They are literally the backbone of our school. If we don’t have buses and we don’t have drivers, then we don’t have our conjoined school,” Meryl Bos, CSB sophomore, said.
While students wait for more information regarding the recent switch in intercampus transit, many still voice their gratitude for the bus drivers and free transportation.
“We should be grateful for their dedication to our schools, rain or shine, and the part they play in our education,” SJU senior Sebastian Guzman said.