Campus Lodge, The Reserve and The Pointe apartment complexes have formed contracts with Columbia Transit in order to remain on the Black and Gold routes for the upcoming year.
The Reserve and Campus Lodge, located on Old 63 South, will jointly fund a contract with Columbia Transit that includes four hours of evening and weekend service provided by the 209 Black Route, said Michael Davis, Regional Vice President for Ambling Student Housing, the management company for Campus Lodge. The daytime service will remain the same.
“Although there was some lack of diligence on the city’s behalf, we are very happy that an agreement could be reached to ensure our residents have the transportation they need to reach campus,” Davis said. “Our residents are always our number one priority.”
The Pointe and The Reserve declined to release the contract cost.
Apartment complexes along Black and Gold routes were notified by the city in early August that, due to proposed transit budget cuts, the bus systems catering predominately to off-campus students might no longer be available after the budget is put to a vote Sept. 19.
The Pointe apartment complex on Rock Quarry Road also agreed to form a contract with Columbia Transit in order to remain on the 209 and 206 Black routes.
“The Pointe will pay $7,000 annually for day service ending at 5:40 p.m. on the 209 Black Route and limited evening service Thursday through Saturday via the 206 Black Evening Route,” Columbia Transportation Supervisor Drew Brooks said.
Columbia Transit made route cuts only to sections of the Black and Gold routes not currently under any contract partnership, Davis said. The proposed cut to the Gold West route is twice as long in miles as the proposed cut to 209 Black.
The Gold West route services the Log Hill Run apartments on South Providence Road. The apartment complex received a proposed contract from Columbia Transit, but has yet to respond to the city.
“We have not heard back from Log Hill Run about either day or evening service,” Brooks said. “The proposed contract was for both.”
Log Hill Run owner Rob Hill said the outfit is still weighing its options for transit.
“We will have bus service one way or another,” Hill said. “Ideally, we will continue to receive service from the city.”
The proposed contract would require Log Hill Run to pay $14,000 a year for transit. Hill said that as a small, locally-owned business, it simply did not have the money for that.
“We plan to petition the city to continue bus service as the have been, based on student pay,” Hill said. “We will submit the petition to the city and City Council members and have our residents email them.”
Hill said that it has about 300 students at Log Hill Run who use the bus system.
“Due to the huge freshman class, we have freshmen here this year who exclusively rely on this bus,” Hill said. “The residents of Log Hill won’t be without bus service. We look out for our people.”
Hill said he plans to send the petition next week.
The City Council will meet this Tuesday and Sept. 19 for their final work sessions on the proposed city budget that currently includes a 26 percent cut in Columbia Transit funding. The Council will vote directly following the Sept. 19 meeting and the budget will go into effect Oct. 1.