Skillfully maneuvering enormous buses around tiny cones and showing off their knowledge of the road, students took a bumpy ride at the annual University Transit Services bus rodeo Saturday afternoon.
Organized by fourth-year College student Kate Brooker, an outgoing UTS driving relations supervisor, the rodeo was open to anyone who wanted to take a shot behind the wheel of a bus.
"You don't have to have your commercial driver's license to drive in the rodeo because it's in a blocked-off parking lot," said UTS driver Brian Gross, a third-year College student. He estimated that eight to 10 non-UTS drivers took part.
With an estimated 50 or 60 UTS drivers participating in the judged partof the contest and eating food from Big Jim's Barbeque, the competition was "like a company picnic," Gross said. "It's one of the few organized social events that we have, and it's a good way to get everyone to come out."
Based on a point system, drivers demonstrated their savvy in three ways. Part one was a seven-minute cone course consisting of obstacles such as a judgement stop.
"You had to get your bus to about 20 miles per hour, and judge where to stop within a foot of a cone," Gross said. "This year I sort of failed miserably and went 30 feet over the cone."
After the cone course, rodeo participants took a 10-minute written test that covered questions similar to a normal driver's license test, in addition to trivia about UTS stops and other aspects of the UTS organization.
Finally, participants performed a 10-minute safetyinspection of a bus.
"We need to make an inspection like this before we take buses in and out of the lot," Gross said.
Finishing first place in the rodeo this year was second-year Engineering student Peter Ohlns. Now Ohlns, along with the top four other finishers, is eligible to go on to the state bus rodeo in Richmond.
"There are 17 public transportation groups that compete," Gross said. "And after the state competition, the top winner goes to nationals."
Due to a previous engagement, Ohlns is not sure if he will be able to attend the state competition, but he said that he had a good time at the rodeo.
"My girlfriend waited 'til everyone was done with the course and just drove in a circle around the parking lot," Ohlns said. "It's exciting that anyone can get a chance to drive"
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