Columbia Transportation

Columbia Transportation

Columbia Transportation #2993 displaying "Commencement" on its destination sign.
Parent	Columbia University
Locale	Manhattan, The Bronx, Palisades, New York
Service area	Upper Manhattan, Riverdale, Fort Lee, Palisades-Lamont
Service type	University Shuttle bus
Routes	8
Hubs	CUIMC Campus 166th Street at Broadway
Fleet	Fleet
Daily ridership	~700 on the Intercampus Shuttle per day ~100 on the Lamont Shuttle per day[1]
Fuel type	Diesel and Electric
Operator	Academy Bus Lines and Luxury Transportation
Website	Official website[2]

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.

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

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]

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.^[14][15] 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.^[16] In June 2022, the service was changed to operate from 8 pm to 3 am.^[17] 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.^[18]

Fleet number(s)	Photo	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Garage	Notes
2114-2119[19]		2007-2008	Nova Bus	LFS TL40102A	Hoboken	Formerly owned by Rutgers Campus Buses, transferred to Columbia Transportation in 2011 Various buses retired 2118 retired
2400[19]		2015	New Flyer	XD40		Used on Lamont Shuttle
2991-2996[19]		2018		XE40 Xcelsior CHARGE

Fleet number(s)	Photo	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Garage	Notes
6405-6410[20]		2013	Van Hool	C2045	Hoboken	Can be used on Fort Lee Shuttle[21]

The Arbor Shuttle uses various cutaway buses operated by subcontractors for Columbia Residential.^[22]

Fleet number(s)	Photo	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Notes
2101-2113		2006	Nova Bus	LFS TL40102A	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			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[20]		2015-2018	Van Hool	CX45		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			Some units used for other Academy services.
1608-1611[20]		2015	MCI	J4500
1618-1620		2020
3512-3520[20]		2017	Van Hool	CX35
1344-1349[20]		2018	Prévost	H3-45	Some units used for other Academy services.
1350-1361, 1363		2019-2020			1361 and 1363 are 2020 units
19040-19046		2019	MCI	D4500CT	All owned by New Jersey Transit Used only occasionally as backup buses Normally used on Academy routes in NJ	Former Commuter Shuttle backup buses, not used in Columbia Commuter services anymore, but still used for Academy routes in New Jersey