Patrolling the Jacksonville State University campus these days is a fleet of 10 new vehicles purchased and put in place specifically to serve the students and help them get to class on time.

The Gamecock Express bus system officially begins rolling next Monday, but the buses are already working on their routes and the system has already made drastic changes in the way parking is handled on campus.

Yesterday, JSU put a parking ban in place along Trustee Circle, the one-way road that traverses most of the western portion of the campus and this fall student parking decals will specify whether or not they are a campus resident, further designating where they are allowed to park their vehicles.

Commuter students are now only allowed to park in certain parking lots, such as Martin Hall's lot, the parking area around Stone Center and the lot across from Brewer Hall.

Campus residents are similarly restricted in where their cars can be parked and the new JSU parking decal system is color-coded accordingly.

The approximately $800,000 bus system was paid for by a $1.9 million Federal Transportation Administration grant the university was awarded. The university is responsible to pay a 20 percent match for the grant. The annual operating costs for the system, however, will have to come out of tuition paid by the students, part of the reason for this year's tuition increase.

On Aug. 4, Joe Whitmore, director of special services at JSU, spoke to the Jacksonville City Council about the impact of the system on the city.

"This system, at least for the first year, is going to be a living, breathing animal," said Whitmore as he explained to the council that there will not be shelters placed at bus stops, but signs that can easily be moved if it is determined that a stop has been placed in an inconvenient location.

Though the primary function of the buses will be to transport students to and from class, a city route has been added to ensure students who live off campus can ride and to give students an eco-friendly method of going shopping.

There is no fee for riding the buses and no JSU identification card is needed, so residents are free to use the system as well to get around town. Each stop will be marked by a white sign with the letter GX on it (the G will be backwards), to indicate the Gamecock Express.

Four routes have been set up for the system, two on campus and two off campus. The white route will stay entirely on the western side of Alabama Highway 21, visiting several apartment complexes near the university and depositing students at campus buildings. The red route will touch on the western side of campus, but its purpose will be to get students to Stone Center, Martin Hall, the library and the other outlying campus buildings.

The two city routes serve very different purposes. The blue route, which will run daily with limited service on weekends, will stop at apartment complexes along Church Avenue and will pass through areas of town where many students live. A large portion of its route is along Church Avenue and Alexandria Road.

The yellow route will only run on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and only between the area of the city around the square and campus. According to Whitmore, the buses will not be bringing students to the square, but will be taking them to campus only.

Each of the buses can accommodate 26-30 seated students and 45-48 with standing room and all will be equipped with bicycle racks and handicapped access. A GPS system, which will be linked on the JSU website once the buses begin running regularly, will let students know where each of the buses are at any given time.

"It's going to be a culture shock for a lot of our students," said Whitmore, adding that many students have never ridden a bus other than the yellow school bus that took them to elementary or high school.