The return of students to campus means full parking lots, more parking tickets and car-crowded streets. But there is a way around this: MU’s Tiger Line and a new downtown bus route from the city of Columbia.
Tiger Line buses are free and accessible to Mizzou students, faculty and staff. No MU identification is needed to board, said Karlan Seville, Tiger Line spokeswoman. The line is funded by student fees.
There are six Tiger Line shuttle routes: three during the day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and three in the evening from 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. The complete route guide can be viewed at tigerline.missouri.edu.
Responses to a Tiger Line survey resulted in altering routes this year, Seville said. The south loop bus route was extended to Wal-Mart on Nifong Boulevard, and the campus and downtown loops were extended to William Street.
The routes are relatively flexible. “The nice thing about Tiger Line is you don’t have to actually be at a bus stop. You can just flag (the bus) down and get on,” Seville said.
Also available is the city’s FastCAT bus line. A downtown route recently debuted. “The Transit Task Force determined that we weren’t being student-centric with our bus routes,” Columbia Public Works spokesman Steven Sapp said. “FastCAT was the answer.”
The city is offering free bus rides through Friday. After that, an unlimited ride pass will be $62.50 per semester if bought in bundles of 20 or more, or a flat cost of $100 if purchased individually, Sapp said.
FastCAT runs seven days a week. Extended weekend hours are 6:30–2:30 a.m. Thursday–Saturday. The full route schedule can be viewed at ridefastcat.com.
Tiger Line and FastCAT have created apps for their bus routes that can be downloaded via the iTunes and Google Play stores. Both bus lines will install a GPS system so riders can check bus arrivals in real-time.
— Ashley Carman