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A contract between Montana State University and Streamline is forcing the bus service to raise wages, but the changes only affect certain routes.

Since the Streamline started running in 2007, the rules of the payment road have been pretty simple.

"It' doesn't matter what you're driving or where you're going, straight across, we all get paid the same," said bus driver Janine Lowry.

That's changed now. Depending on when and where you enter this free community craft, your driver might be making $12.50/hour or $16.50/hour

"We have to follow state law," said MSU Spokesman Tracy Ellig.

Streamline receives an $85,000 grant from the Montana State University President's Office. Yet before awarding the contract this year, MSU discovered the grant falls under a state statute requiring the drivers be paid prevailing wage or typical pay for the job in the area.

The MSU grant funds the bus's Saturday service and Livingston route. So Streamline is only providing the $16.50 prevailing wage to those drivers. Streamline Director Lee Hazelbaker says pay scales like this are not uncommon. He justifies it in saying the Livingston and Saturday routes are either more difficult or less desirable.

"You're paying more for a driver that's willing to step up and take a route maybe not everyone is willing to take," said Hazelbaker.

"I guess a little bit of a pay raise for those routes would be fair, (but) $4 is pretty significant," said Streamline driver Chris Wishert. It's a significant enough dig into the Streamline budget to cause the loss of one of the two Livingston routes.

Janine Lowry has mixed feelings on the policy. She says her schedule would not allow her to take the higher paying shifts even if she wanted to. But she's gracious to Streamline for keeping her in the driver's seat at all, she says. Operations of the service just switched from First Student, which runs local school busses, to Karst Stage at the beginning of the month. About half of the old Streamline drivers were not rehired.

"Even knowing we have a job is a bonus," Lowry said.