A mistake this Saturday threw Centro off guard and left Syracuse University students out in the cold.

Students hoping to catch a ride to Armory Square from the new shuttle service provided by the SU Student Association this Saturday ran into a problem.

“Apparently Centro forgot to run busses from 3:40 p.m. to 7:19 p.m., “ said SA President Andrew Thomson.

The driver who was going to do the run was not there, and Centro did not run the shuttle, he added.

SA is paying an hourly rate for the shuttle, and Thomson expects that SA will not have to pay for that section of the night since the shuttle was not running because of a mistake by Centro.

Officials at Centro said that they were unable to comment about Saturday’s events because no one was currently working that worked Saturday.

The mistake Saturday night will not stop the shuttle from running, and it can be expected to be in operation Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of the spring semester without further problems, Thomson said.

“We are going to speak with Centro to see if there is anything we can do to make sure that this does not happen again,” he said.

T.J. Basalla, a freshman broadcast journalism major, said he and a friend, Brian Perkins, tried to catch the 6 p.m. shuttle at College Place, but the bus didn’t show up, so they went inside of the Public Safety building, where others were waiting to keep warm. While inside, Basalla learned from others that the 5:30 p.m. bus had not shown, and so they waited for the 6:30 p.m. bus, which also never came, Basalla said.

Basalla and Perkins, both hockey fans, were hoping to go to a Syracuse Crunch game against the Cleveland Barons downtown but were unable to do so because of Centro’s mistake.

Perkins, a freshman television radio and film major, said it was freezing cold as the two waited for the shuttle, and they did not want to pay the money for a taxi to take them to the game.

“To have something hyped up all week and blow up during opening weekend makes us have less confidence in anything Centro or the university does in the future,” Basalla said.

Asst. News Editor Daniel Rivero contributed to this report.

Published on February 16, 2003 at 12:00 pm