Columbia Transportation

Columbia Transportation is a fare-free bus network providing service to Columbia University campuses. It is operated by Academy Bus Lines and Luxury Transportation to serve employees and students. The buses are open to all Columbia faculty, students, Dodge Fitness Center members, and anyone else who holds a Columbia ID card.

Routes

Active routes

^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Former Routes

Columbia Commuter Shuttles

In August 2020, Columbia announced that they would start commuter shuttle service in the Fall 2020 semester. These buses would function as express buses, linking areas that do not have direct connections to Columbia to each campus. The contractor for these routes is Academy Bus Lines, using coach buses. The original system included the Yankee Stadium Commuter Route, which functioned essentially as a park and ride route, however this was discontinued due to extremely low ridership. The buses assigned to the Yankee Stadium route were reassigned to the East Manhattan Route. The Queens-Riverdale Commuter Route, however still serves the Southfield Commuter Lot at Citi Field park and ride in Queens. The Commuter Shuttle Service ended on December 30, 2021.^[11]

Evening Shuttle

On June 9, 2020, Columbia announced that the Evening Shuttle service, previously provided by the Columbia Public Safety department, would restart with an on-demand service model. Users would order cars from the ridesharing service Via, and provided the rides were within the coverage area, Columbia Transportation would reimburse.^[12][13] This program would operate 7 days a week, from 6 pm to 3 am in the summer, and 4 pm to 3 am in the winter. In January 2022, Service was expanded eastwards, covering much of Central Harlem.^[14] In June 2022, the service was changed to operate from 8 pm to 3 am.^[15] The service was estimated to have 162,000 riders during the 2021-2022 academic year. On September 1, 2022, the hours were changed again. Rides would operate from 6 to 8 pm, only from street corner to street corner, and past 8 pm on a door-to-door basis, where rides are offered to anywhere in the zone.^[16]

Fleet

Active

Intercampus, Lamont, Manhattanville, and Fort Lee Shuttles

Fleet number(s)	Photo	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Powertrain	Garage	Notes
2114-2119[17]		2007-2008	Nova Bus	LFS TL40102A	ISL ZF 6HP554C	Hoboken	Formerly owned by Rutgers Campus Buses, transferred to Columbia Transportation in 2011 Various buses retired 2118 retired 2119 Under Academy Colors/Logos
2400[17]		2015	New Flyer	XD40	ISL9 Allison Allison B400R		Backup bus In the silver Academy livery Used on Lamont Shuttle
2991-2996[17]		2018		XE40 Xcelsior CHARGE	Siemens ELFA2

Bakers Field Shuttle

Fleet number(s)	Photo	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Powertrain	Garage	Notes
6405-6410[18]		2013	Van Hool	C2045	ISX-12	Hoboken	Can be used on Fort Lee Shuttle[19]

Arbor Shuttle

The Arbor Shuttle uses various cutaway buses operated by subcontractors for Columbia Residential.^[20]

Retired

Fleet number(s)	Photo	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Powertrain	Notes
2101-2113		2006	Nova Bus	LFS TL40102A	ISL ZF 6HP554C	Formerly owned by Rutgers Campus Buses, transferred to Columbia Transportation in 2011 Some units used for New York University service Retired in 2018 2105 and 2110 reactivated in 2022, have been re-retired
2114, 2118		2007				Formerly owned by Rutgers Campus Buses, transferred to Columbia Transportation in 2011 2115-2117 still active
2143		2017			L9	Formerly owned by New York University, transferred to Columbia in late 2019 to replace bus #2114. Used on the Manhattanville Shuttle Transferred to Academy’s operations in Boston in April 2020 with the discontinuance of the Manhattanville Shuttle.
Former Commuter Shuttle buses
6711, 6730, 6784-6795[18]		2015-2018	Van Hool	CX45	ISX-12		Former Commuter Shuttle buses, not used in Columbia Commuter services anymore, but still used for Academy services. Can be used on Lamont Shuttle if needed.
6838-6852		2020			X12	Some units used for other Academy services.
1608-1611[18]		2015	MCI	J4500	ISX-12
1618-1620		2020			X12
3512-3520[18]		2017	Van Hool	CX35	ISL9
1344-1349[18]		2018	Prévost	H3-45	Volvo D13	Some units used for other Academy services.
1350-1361, 1363		2019-2020				1361 and 1363 are 2020 units
19040-19046		2019	MCI	D4500CT	ISX12	All owned by New Jersey Transit Used only occasionally as backup buses Normally used on Academy routes in NJ Can be stored at Leonardo garage if needed.	Former Commuter Shuttle backup buses, not used in Columbia Commuter services anymore, but still used for Academy routes in New Jersey

References