In October, the Student Association made the idea of a 24-hour bus service between North and South Campus a reality.
'During our initial campaign, we promised to have 24-hour busing because a large number of students expressed their concern over their inability to travel between campuses late into the night,' said SA President Ernesto Alvarado. 'We pursued this cause and were able to find the financial backing to support it for a semester.'
The financial backing came from SA, the Graduate Student Association and Sub-Board I, Inc.
'I think [24-hour busing is] a really good thing for the school to have to ensure the safety of the students. If they did not run [the buses 24 hours a day], then kids would have to get taxis and that could get expensive,' said Molly Neuhauser, a freshman communication major.
The new busing has been cost effective, according to SA Treasurer Jordan Fried.
'Since the program did not start until halfway through the semester, [we] only paid for [the months] of October, November, and December,' he said. 'However, because it was successful, the university will be picking up the costs for next semester and at least until next fall.'
This semester was an experiment to see if students would use the service, Alvarado said. He expects 24-hour busing to continue next semester, as well as the following fall semester.
'We took the financial responsibility for the 24-hour busing for the fall semester with the hopes that the administration would see it as a worthwhile investment,' Alvarado said. 'The students responded well and the volume of student users was high enough so that the administration saw the 24-hour busing as essential to students, so we've decided to continue the service.'
Alvarado said SA would continue to address student safety, including possible town hall style meetings with UB Police to discuss students' safety concerns.
'We will continue to fund the Anti Rape Task Force vans that drop students off throughout the University Heights or any location [up to] 1.5 miles away from South Campus,' Alvarado said. 'We will continue to work with UB police to enable all the new cameras set up within South Campus.'
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
