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Feds see the upcoming Fed Bus hearing with uncertainty. The budget is being delayed because of the revenue the bus service provides and the uncertainty about whether the bus service will be allowed to continue.

After a hearing in March the Ontario Highway Transport Board ordered the Fed bus service shutdown as of 31 July 2006. It was judged to have been operating without a proper licence, a scheduled service licence. STC, the company that provides the service from University of Waterloo campus, may be granted a licence based on the hearing this coming week.

"I want to stress how important the Fed bus hearing is tomorrow," Feds VPAF Renjie Butalid told Students' Council on Sunday.

He is concerned that few students might come to support the case for a licence. "Less than 16 students confirmed that they are coming," he said.

Feds had sent out calls for students to attend the hearing and support their case.

Butalid also said that though Greyhound has committed to offer service from campus on weekends that it may not be able to provide the same capacity. "They haven't proposed how many buses they will allocate," he said.

"Greyhound has made no proposal for [routes to] London or Hamilton," Feds President Michelle Zakrison added later.

Butalid said that the budget that he would have presented at the meeting on Sunday is being delayed for the licence hearing. Under the business plan for the licence application Feds would get $1.50 for every ticket sale. If this year's ridership would be like last years, 29,389 one-way trips, those commissions would amount to more than $44,000.

• Feds would serve as ticket agent under Fed Bus plan uws 18 Jul 2006
• Board won't require show of public support in Fed Bus application uws 12 Jul 2006
• STC applying for licence for Fed Bus, Greyhound opposing uws 18 Jun 2006
• Transport board shuts down Fed Bus uws 22 May 2006