Outside the watch of Columbia city leaders, students and improved transit advocates gathered Tuesday at Memorial Union to continue discussing ways to improve the transit system so it meets student needs.

The Tiger Transit Movement, a student group formed last November to educate students about transit, hosted the meeting. Other notable figures in attendance were Missouri Students Association President Xavier Billingsley and PedNet executive director Ian Thomas.

After some opening remarks, attendees were placed in small groups and were given 15 minutes to discuss improving transit. The conversation centered around two questions: where students want to go and how the city can provide transportation to these places.

Members of each group talked among themselves before presenting ideas to all in attendance. Students wanted routes to most major shopping areas, the mall, movie theaters, dense student living areas and hospitals.

Students also advocated for buses that would run from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., a drastic change from the current service.

“If it went to midnight, I would use it,” graduate student Shawn Hayden said.

Groups also discussed implementing a mandatory student fee. Each group reported it was in favor of implementing one. Amounts students said they would be willing to pay ranged from $30 to $100 a semester.

“Students want to see improvement and change, but they are realistic that the money has to come from somewhere,” Tiger Transit co-chair Rose Eppensteiner said.

The city proposed an $80 per month student fee back in November, but MSA and other students actively involved in the transit discussion objected to the fee. Students at the meeting were in support of a fee, but they thought they should be in charge of bus routes and frequencies if a fee is implemented.

“I was very surprised every group was in favor of a student fee and came up with a number,” Thomas said.

At the conclusion of the meeting, students used stickers to vote for the ideas presented they felt were most important. Ideas that received the most votes included service from downtown to Greektown, buses that go both directions and service to Nifong Plaza.

Billingsley closed the meeting with some remarks reminding students they have the power to tell city leaders what they desire from public transit. He also encouraged students to talk to their apartment complex managers about transit concerns.

“There are only a few handful of apartment managers who are stepping up and saying ‘We’ll pay more from our budget,’” Billingsley said.

Billingsley said the price most apartments pay currently is “a steal,” and they need to pay more to cover their fair share.

Billingsley encouraged students to email him their ideas about transit and make sure they make their opinions known.

“You have the power,” Billingsley said. “It is your student fee.”

Tiger Transit will send the information gathered to Mitch Skyer, the Solstice Transportation Group consultant hired by MU to help resolve the transit issue, Eppensteiner said. They will also send the information to Michael Sokoff, MU Parking and Transportation Services director.

Solstice will be surveying students in a few weeks about the current system, Eppensteiner said. They will use those results to give recommendations to MU.

The Tiger Transit Movement also plans to continue meeting every week and use the information that was gathered Tuesday to create specific action steps.

“The more conversation you have, the better the eventual outcome is,” Thomas said.