COLIN PERRY
Special to The Leader
It’s a Friday night in downtown Fredonia, when some students begin their weekend at one or more of the many bars the village has to offer. For the most part, nothing has really changed from last semester, with one big exception. The crowds of students who would gather one mile from campus on the steps of The 1891 Fredonia Opera House, waiting for the Campus and Community Bus to arrive, have vanished.
It’s not because they’re not going out at night anymore. Beginning this semester, the bus (known by many students as “the drunk bus”) will cease operating after 11 p.m. The biggest question on the mind of the community, of course, is why.
In a memo sent to The Leader from Student Association (SA) president and junior social studies adolescent education and history major Jefferson Dedrick, he explained that the previous service contract with Coach USA expired at the end of the previous Spring semester. At that point, SA puts the contract out to bid for all companies, with one major qualification deciding which they choose.
According to the memo, SUNY Student Activity Fee guidelines require that the contract must be awarded to the lowest bidder. Coach USA rebid on the contract with the lowest bid, and as such, was awarded the bus service for another three years.
However, Coach USA’s bid came with what Dedrick called one major “stipulation:” that the service would only be offered with reduced nighttime hours. Dedrick’s memo states that “the company cited several reasons not to operate past [11 p.m.], including unsafe conditions and potential liability caused by passenger conduct during weekend late night runs.”
A representative from Coach USA declined to comment on what those unsafe conditions and potential liabilities may be. Dedrick also claims the company did not elaborate to him on the issue.
Dedrick later said SA has “a little bit of wiggle room” as to which contract they can agree to, but added that “far and away, Coach was our best option.”
Now, not only will students have to find a new way to get back to their dorms at night on the weekends, but the door has been opened for any number of potentially dangerous situations.
“We’re very concerned,” Dedrick said. “Student safety is one of the biggest reasons that we had the bus running that late, and we were kind of disappointed with the bus company that they dropped that on us.”
Students who have discovered the changes have voiced similar opinions. A student wishing to remain anonymous commented that the bus in its previous form was “useful when coming from off campus, especially when you’re coming home from parties” and that they had no unsafe experiences with it.
“There are people that need to get home safely, and that’s just an easier way than having to walk back. That could be unsafe too,” the student said. “Any risk you take on the bus with people, you’re probably going to take walking home.”
Even those that never had the need to use the bus that late at night are worried.
“I think [the change] is unfortunate,” said sophomore art major Harry Sheridan, who has never used the bus service. “It was a good alternative for people going out, who are drinking, and we don’t want them driving home.”
Others have voiced concerns about the financial aspect involved in discontinuing the bus service. As the funds for the bus come from the mandatory Student Activity Fee, it’s directly paid for by the students. Those expecting a refund check for the hours the bus won’t run, however, will be disappointed.
“There are budget concerns all over campus,” Dedrick said, citing the dwindling student population, “and we already approved the Student Activity Fee. If there is money that we don’t use that we’ve allocated for the bus, it goes in reserves, which is what we use if we have a problem getting money for the [fee] or in a time of crisis.”
Those same budget concerns loomed over the decision to go ahead with Coach’s new contract, too.
“We’ve looked at other ways we could do [late-night] bus services in conjunction with the Coach bus service, but there’s no way we can do it fiscally,” Dedrick said. “We just simply don’t have the money.”
Ultimately, it remains yet to be seen what will come of the changes made in the bus service. What once was a short wait followed by a short ride is now a mile-long walk from the Fredonia Opera House back to campus — a mile where anything could happen.