Fledgling bus service adds another shuttle

Michael Rocks-Macqueen, President and CEO of the Club Express Bus service, is expanding his business to include a second bus.

The company, founded by Rocks-Macqueen at the end of his freshman year of college, began with a school bus found on eBay. The bus was driven from Albuquerque, New Mexico. At UND, Rocks-Macqueen was granted the Kurt Mueller Entrepreneur internship at the Center for Innovation. When asked about his purpose for starting a party bus, Rocks-Macqueen said "There's a need for one. It's an easy way to help people."

The original bus, called the Black Betty, was transformed with 50 yards of vinyl, 400 feet of wire, 3,000 screws and 4,500 staples. After the transformation was complete, Rocks-Macqueen was granted Federal Motor Carrier Authority, making him the youngest ever to receive that authority.

The bus service runs on Friday and Saturday nights, from 10:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. The bus picks students up from anywhere in the university area and brings them to one of the bars downtown, such as Joe Black's, Gilly's, O'Really's Pub, Level 10, and Bonzer's. It charges $3 for a one-way trip and $5 to ride all night.

With the addition of a second bus, one bus can be rented out while the other does the weekend route.

"At the rate business is going, I could potentially gross close to $100,000," Rocks-Macqueen said about the finances of his business. Such gross income puts Macqueen in a group of 1 in every 30 student entrepreneurs.

According to Rocks-Macqueen, the business is growing continuously with the addition of a second bus and several pending contracts. The company employs 11 UND students, seven of which are drivers and three of which are bouncers. Macqueen plans to continue his business until graduation but has no plans for his business after that.

Some of the additions made to the buses include being outfitted with vertical safety poles, extensive sound systems with subwoofers and club lighting. The business is sponsored by a variety of bars downtown as well as by Monster energy drink.

The business can be contacted for rides or information about bus rentals by calling 701-777-6548. The new bus, bigger than the original, will cost more to rent than the original.