The wheels on the bus go round and round — or they used to, at least. MU’s Black and Gold bus routes will run, but not after 6 p.m., creating a transportation problem for a large group of MU students.
Late bus routes have been used as an enticement for students living off campus in apartment complexes such as the Reserve and Campus Lodge, but upon returning to campus this year, many students were shocked to learn late bus routes had been taken away.
And students weren’t the only ones shocked by the change. Various apartment complex owners said they were surprised as well, along with student government.
Students have taken to social media to voice their concerns as of now, joining the Facebook group “Petition to Reinstate Evening Buses to and from Campus.” A total of 102 students had signed the online petition as of Monday night. Student comments and apartment complex employees expressed their frustrations over not being told about the transit changes. Group members were also encouraged to write letters to the editor. Community members are encouraged to attend a meeting at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 in City Hall where they will be able to voice their concerns.
“We need students’ help to petition to fund these buses since MU is no longer doing so. It is now up to the apartments’ managements to do so, and so far they have declined. We need students to express their need for these evening buses in hopes that the various managements will provide the funding; if not, we want them to know we are willing to pay for the buses as long as there is an available route,” the petition states.
Students who signed the petition expressed concerns over not having cars and the lack of notice on the transportation change, having already planned their housing for the school year.
The decrease in bus routes stems from cuts to the city transit system in the proposed city budget, since funding for city transportation was expected to run out in July 2012. Although the city council is currently holding work sessions for community members to voice concerns to council members, changes to the bus system have already taken place.
Although students only make up approximately 40 percent of Columbia residents using the bus system, the implications for those living off-campus are extreme. Now living off-campus essentially requires students to have their own forms of transportation to show up to extracurricular activities, and even to get home from night classes in some cases. Students will have to rely on their friends more often for rides and they also might be forced to drive home while impaired.
And though STRIPES, the campus car service, has been beneficial to students, it can only chauffeur so many students a night and is stretched thin for resources already. Not to mention, they only run Thursday through Sunday nights, leaving the other half of the week open.
When it was announced that this year’s freshman class would be the largest in MU’s history, the Department of Residential Life had a near heart attack. After months of struggling to accommodate the thousands of students who wished to live on campus the year before, Residential Life was once again faced with the task of housing a gigantic freshman class.
Compensation was offered to students returning to MU so they would give up their spaces to help place all incoming freshmen. Enticed by these pleas from Residential Life and free shuttle options to and from their off-campus housing, many of these students happily flocked away from campus to help make room for the record-breaking freshman class.
Changing the city’s transit system without adequate notification is not something that will happen without a hitch. It’s a drastic change that alters the lives of students on campus with not only the core reason they are here — classes — but with extracurricular activities and getting home safely. If living off campus is going to be a must due to lack of housing on campus, it is not admirable to ask students to find their own forms of transportation home, especially after students have already signed their leases.
The city’s notice of the public meeting for community members to voice their concerns over changes reads “to consider a new fare structure and proposed expense and service reductions for the public transportation system.”
It sounds like the issue has already been considered without community, specifically student, involvement.
