Many UA and Arizona State University students who traveled to Mexico for spring break found crossing the border and getting back into Arizona a little more difficult than expected.
Students who traveled with StudentCity.com to Mazatlan, Mexico for spring break were expecting to transfer buses when they reached the American border, said Erin Blomquist, an agriculture and biology systems senior who was one of the students without a ride.
The caravan of seven buses carrying about 220 students left Mazatlan together and began the 17-hour drive back to Tucson and Tempe, said Damien Luna, an on-site staff member and bus trip coordinator for StudentCity.com.
While the buses were on their way back to the border, one student got sick during one of the frequent stops, Luna said.
The student had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for dehydration, Luna said, and her bus had to wait for her to return.
"We took her to the hospital and that set us back about two hours," Luna said. "Two of the buses waited and the other five buses kept going."
The students were supposed to switch to All Aboard America buses, contracted with StudentCity.com, at the border, Luna said.
The five buses on schedule made it to the border with no further problems and the passengers made it to their destinations, said Matt Scriven, regional sales director for StudentCity.com
When the last two buses arrived at the border in Nogales, however, the All Aboard America buses had already left, Luna said.
"We had no way to call the bus company and tell them that we were delayed since cell phones don't work in Mexico," Luna said.
Luna said he could not get in touch with the bus company when they finally got to Nogales and eventually told all the students to find transportation on their own.
"Since we had no way of getting a hold of All Aboard, we suggested that students go to the nearby Greyhound station to get rides to Tucson and Tempe," Luna said.
For the buses that were delayed, the 17-hour trip ended up being about 24 total hours of traveling, said Dan Henz a recent graduate who was on one of the delayed buses.
StudentCity.com told the students they would be reimbursed for their transportation past the border and would receive travel vouchers for next year's spring break.
Blomquist, who was one of the students left at the border, said she and about 12 other students hiked close to a mile with their luggage to find a ride back to Tucson.
"We carried our bags three-quarters of a mile to a gas station and then scrambled to try to figure out what to do," Blomquist said. "We ended up paying a guy with an S-10 pickup truck $20 to take us to a station where we eventually were able to find a shuttle."
Many students were unhappy with the trip back into Arizona, but at this point they just want to know what exactly occurred with the buses, Henz said.
"It's not about the money any more," Henz said. "I just want to know why there was such a lack of communication and StudentCity was not in contact with the bus company to tell them we were on our way."
Scriven said other than the representatives who went with the students, StudentCity was unaware of the delay and missing buses until recently.
"At the time, we were unaware that there was a problem," Scriven said. "We (were) contracted with All Aboard and we expected that those buses would be there for the students."
Scott Duncan, general manager of All Aboard America, said the drivers did all they could and had no way of knowing that more students were on their way.
"We could only wait for so long for the passengers because the drivers had other commitments, Duncan said. "When no one came, we had no way of knowing that more students were supposed to be there."