Free rides from Wednesday through Saturday night are being offered by the Toomer's Ten transit system.
"We run a charter for the SGA," said Rex Huffman, manager of transit services at Auburn University. The charter began in August and includes seven routes that run from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Toomer's Ten has an average of 550 people riding the transit each night, Huffman said.
The Toomer's Ten is free to ride because of outside funding.
The funds initially come from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which is a Federal fund, but have to go through an intensive process before the funds can be used by Toomer's Ten.
Shery Fulford, director of governmental affairs, briefly describes the process of funding starting with Gov. Bob Riley.
Riley includes the SFSF in his Education Trust Fund budget which gets passed through the state Legislature.
Once both houses pass the bill, Riley signs it and it is officially appropriated, which means it is set for specific usage. The University has a budget of $25.8 million for the current fiscal year, FY10.
The funds then come to the University Budget Committee who recommend the funds to the Board of Trustees.
The BOT must review and approve the funds before they finally reach their destination. The Tiger Transit takes $106 out of each student's semester tuition while the Toomer's Ten system is completely funded by a federal government stimulus package, the SFSF, said Jacob Watkins, senior in economics and SGA President. Watkins is responsible for the creation of Toomer's Ten, Huffman said. He made the push with Auburn's trustees.
The current stimulus package that pays for the night transit system, Toomer's Ten, began as a 12-month package Oct. 1.
As that funding term ends, new funds will have to be presented to keep Toomer's Ten operating.
"The current plan ( for next year) is to fund Toomer's Ten through the stimulus fund," Watkins said.
The original goal of Toomer's Ten was to alleviate pressure that was gaining on the nighttime security shuttle. "A lot (of people) are still riding the security shuttle where it would be more appropriate to ride Toomer's Ten," Watkins said.
Toomer's Ten has seven lines that pick up riders anywhere from Eagles Landing to Creekside to Donahue Crossing to Webster Crossing and then drop them off when they are ready to go home after a night out and around Auburn.
"I wish they could get a few more buses out to Wire Road," said Lauren Wesley, senior in accounting.
The seven lines were chosen following a Tiger Transit survey that documented locations where most people were riding the transit system.
Watkins said this week and next week there will be surveys taken my SGA representatives who will be riding the Tiger Transit to find out student's opinion about timing, convenience and how often they use the transit.
The students have to be ready to leave from downtown before 2:30 a.m.
"At 2:30 we pull out," said Cassandra McNeil, supervisor of Toomer's Ten.
McNeil supervises Toomer's Ten from the steps outside of Moe's Southwest Grill on Magnolia Avenue where the bus loading area is.
"I think it's good," said Lamar Randall, Toomer's Ten driver. "It keeps the students from getting DUIs."
As a bus comes into the loading area, it is a drop and roll schedule until midnight.
After midnight, the buses stop for five to six minutes in the loading area before they roll.
"You are going to have to wait for it," McNeil said. "It is not always going to be here when you get here."
It was a hassle to wait for the bus because I had just missed it, Wesley said.
McNeil gets the chance to talk to some students as they wait for their bus to arrive.
"Most of the students I talk to say they are thankful," McNeil said. "Some say they feel safe."
Wesley said she feels safe riding Toomer's Ten.
It was her first time to ride the bus this past weekend and she plans on riding Toomer's Ten again in the future.
"I didn't have to worry about driving home and cops," Wesley said.
Safety is one of the reasons Toomer's Ten runs.
"Some drive, some ride," McNeil said. "A lot of them get dropped off (by a friend) and then ride the buses back."
It was Ferrell's third day on the job when interviewed Friday night.
"It seems a pretty cool idea to me that they are taking care of the students like this," Ferrell said. "I think it helps a lot. From what I have seen in three days, they are saving a bunch of students from getting in trouble. The students are using their heads."
Since Toomer's Ten has been in operation, it has only had about three break-downs, McNeil said.
It is not much of a problem when a bus breaks down because the service has a spare one in reserve that is ready to go when needed.
"On a busy night we can carry from 300 to 500 people," McNeil said. "The least amount we have carried on a night is 220 people. It really depends on what is going on."
During football season, Toomer's Ten can carry 900 people a night, McNeil said.
Captain Tom Stofer of the Auburn Police Department said they have not changed their nightly task force because of Toomer's Ten.
They have not noticed much of a difference in reference to numbers of DUIs since last August when Toomer's Ten started so they keep the same number of officers on the roads each night as before the buses started running.
To find out more about Toomer's Ten, visit their Web site at www.auburn.edu/administration/parking_transit/latenight.php, or contact SGA to leave a comment.
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