The formerly minuscule cost of a night out in downtown Binghamton is creeping up as a result of the recent cab fare increase, rising drink prices at popular bars and hefty cover charges just to get in the door.
While paying $4 for a sub-par pint of ale is all but inevitable, there is one little-known service offered to students at the wallet-friendly cost of absolutely nothing: OCCT’s late night blue bus.
All students have to do to save $6 on cab rides every Friday and Saturday is show their student ID and take advantage of this service that is included in every student’s mandatory activity fee.
According to Samantha Thomas, service manager and operations coordinator of Off Campus College Transport, most students don’t realize the bus service exists or they simply don’t know where and when to get on the bus at the end of the night.
“The problem is that when students go downtown, they don’t know where the stop is for the run,” Thomas said.
Downtown blue bus runs, labeled “Late Night Binghamton Service” on OCCT’s schedule, begin at 12 a.m. on Friday night and the last run leaves at 4 a.m., taking students downtown from campus and back at the end of the night.
Thomas said that the late night runs began to give students who live off campus the opportunity to take advantage of on-campus activities like Late Nite Binghamton. But, Thomas added, the service has become more of a “drunk bus” than a mode of transportation for those who favor Dance Dance Revolution over open bar at the Rat.
“It started because they wanted students who lived off campus to come to campus and participate in the activities of Late Nite,” she said. “Now we have people getting on the buses drunk and back off the buses drunk.”
There are currently four bus runs that make stops downtown: Westside Special, Triple Cities, Southside Main and Leroy Southside. All of these routes include downtown stops throughout the night, but many students have no idea the service exists.
“I guess students aren’t aware of it anymore,” Thomas said. “They wanted us to design stops downtown and we already have this service.”
The Westside Special stops at the corner of Court Street and State Street at 2:27 a.m. and 3:27 a.m. and the Triple Cities stops on the corner of Court Street and Washington Street at 2:15 a.m. and 3:15 a.m., giving students the opportunity to hop on a bus for free when bars close at 3 a.m.
OCCT, which employs 26 student drivers and operates 10 buses, has trouble at times finding drivers for these late-night runs because they complain that buses are often empty towards the end of the evening.
“Our drivers are students and they don’t want to work until four in the morning,” Thomas said, adding that drunk students tend to be louder and rowdier on the buses than other students.
Thomas said that while the 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. runs are often packed beyond capacity, despite a no-standing rule on the weekends, the later runs are often almost empty.
But OCCT is eager to let students know they have the option of taking the blue bus downtown — a service they already pay for — instead of shelling out three bucks each way for a cab ride.
“We just want to publicize our service,” Thomas said.