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.

Columbia Transportation
Columbia Transportation #2993 displaying "Commencement" on its destination sign.
ParentColumbia University
LocaleManhattan, The Bronx, Palisades, New York
Service areaUpper Manhattan, Riverdale, Fort Lee, Palisades-Lamont
Service typeUniversity Shuttle bus
Routes8
HubsCUIMC Campus
166th Street at Broadway
FleetFleet
Daily ridership~700 on the Intercampus Shuttle per day
~100 on the Lamont Shuttle per day[1]
Fuel typeDiesel and Electric
OperatorAcademy Bus Lines and Luxury Transportation
WebsiteOfficial website[2]

Routes

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Active routes

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Route Termini Via Notes
Arbor Shuttle Morningside Heights
Morningside Campus
120th Street at Amsterdam Avenue
Riverdale
Arbor
235th Street at Henry Hudson Parkway
Henry Hudson Parkway
  • Operated by subcontractors for Columbia Residential using minibuses
  • Serves CUIMC by request
Fort Lee Shuttle Fort Lee, New Jersey
Parker Plaza
Lewis Street at Center Avenue
Washington Heights
CUIMC Campus
169th Street at Broadway
George Washington Bridge
  • Rush hours only
Intercampus Shuttles
(Green, Blue, and Red Lines)
Washington Heights
CUIMC Campus
167th Street at Broadway
Upper West Side
96th Street at Broadway
Broadway, 125th St, St Nicholas Av
(rush hours only)
  • Open to senior citizens, Medicare Card holders, and Access-A-Ride ID card holders, as well as Columbia ID holders
  • Runs via 125th St are rush hours only
  • Limited service to Harlem Hospital
  • Limited service ends at 116th Street, does not continue to 96th Street
Broadway
Intercampus Shuttle
Green Line
Harlem
Harlem Hospital
135th Street at Lenox Avenue
(limited service)
Broadway, St Nicholas Av, 135th St
Manhattanville Shuttle Morningside Heights
Morningside Campus
Manhattanville Loop Broadway, 12th Av
  • Discontinued in April 2020, reactivated in September 2021.
Lamont Shuttle Morningside Heights
Morningside Campus
120th Street at Broadway
Palisades
Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory
George Washington Bridge, Route 9W
  • Rush hour trips run express
  • One trip in the rush hour direction each morning uses an Academy coach bus.
Bakers Field Shuttle Morningside Heights
Morningside Campus
Inwood
Bakers Field
West 218th St at Broadway
Henry Hudson Pkwy
  • Uses Academy-branded coach buses

[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Former Routes

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Route Termini Via Notes
Yankee Stadium Commuter Route Washington Heights
CUIMC Campus
167th Street at Broadway
Yankee Stadium Broadway, 161st Street Discontinued due to extremely low ridership. Replaced by East Manhattan Commuter Route[10]
Hoboken Shuttle Pilot Hoboken
Willow Av at 14th St
Manhattanville
Amsterdam Av at 125th St
10th Avenue Discontinued in June 2021 after the Intercampus Shuttle changed to the summer schedule.
Manhattan Commuter Shuttle Midtown Manhattan
Penn Station
Washington Heights
CUIMC Campus
167th Street at Broadway
8th/9th Avenues, Broadway Discontinued on December 30, 2021[11]
Brooklyn via West Manhattan Commuter Shuttle Downtown Brooklyn
Tillary St at Jay St
Broadway, 8th/9th Avenues, Canal Street, Manhattan Bridge
Brooklyn via East Manhattan Commuter Shuttle Broadway, 110th Street, 2nd/3rd Avenues, Canal Street, Manhattan Bridge
Queens-Riverdale Commuter Shuttle Citi Field
Southfield Commuter Lot
Riverdale
West 238th St at Riverdale Av
Grand Central Pkwy, 125th Street, Broadway
Morningside Loop Morningside Heights
Morningside Campus Loop
120th St, Amsterdam Av, 113th St, Broadway
  • Temporary shuttle established on May 4, 2024 during the closure of Columbia campus due to the pro-Palestinian campus occupation.[12]
  • This route was operated in-house by Columbia Transportation and Columbia Public Safety, not by Academy.
  • The shuttle was discontinued on May 7, 2024[13]

Columbia Commuter Shuttles

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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

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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

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Active

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Intercampus, Lamont, Manhattanville, and Fort Lee Shuttles

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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

Baker Field Shuttle

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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]

Arbor Shuttle

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

Retired

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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

References

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  1. ^ "Academy Bus orders 6 New Flyer electric buses for Columbia University". Green Car Congress. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  2. ^ "Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  3. ^ "Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  4. ^ "Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "Intercampus Shuttle | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  6. ^ "George Washington Bridge/Fort Lee Shuttle | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  7. ^ "Lamont Shuttle | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  8. ^ "Manhattanville Loop | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  9. ^ "Arbor Shuttle Service | Columbia Residential". residential.columbia.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  10. ^ "Commuter Shuttle Updates: Students Now Eligible and New Manhattan East Side Route". Archived from the original on December 27, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Commuter Shuttles | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  12. ^ https://transportation.columbia.edu/news/temporary-morningside-loop-shuttle-bus-effect-saturday-may-4 [bare URL]
  13. ^ https://publicsafety.columbia.edu/content/morningside-campus-access-updates [bare URL]
  14. ^ "Columbia Partners with Via to Provide On-Demand Evening Shuttle Service | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  15. ^ https://transportation.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Evening%20Shuttle%20Coverage%20Map%20Morningside_Manhattanville.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  16. ^ "Evening Shuttle (Via) Coverage Area Expanded to Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  17. ^ "Evening Shuttle (Via) Start Time Moves to 8 P.M. Beginning June 21 | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  18. ^ "Evening Shuttle (Via) Start Time Moves to 6 P.M. Beginning Sept. 1 | Columbia Transportation". transportation.columbia.edu. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  19. ^ a b c "Columbia University - CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  20. ^ a b c d e "Academy Bus Lines - CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  21. ^ "Traipsing Through Transit - Columbia Transportation Fort Lee Shuttle". www.traipsingthrutransit.com. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  22. ^ MTATransitFan (July 6, 2020), English: Columbia Facilities Arbor Shuttle Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus #425, retrieved April 28, 2023