Tired of complaining about lengthened GUTS routes to Dupont Circle, sporadic weekend service, and no rides to the Verizon Center during basketball season? Don’t worry, Georgetown Univeristy Student Association and the Student Activities Commission have you covered—weekend GUTS routes might be gone for good on the Hilltop next year thanks to a lack of financial oversight from the two organizations. Ultimately, Georgetown’s entire shuttle program should be the university’s responsibility. However, for the time being it will be up to student organizations to ensure that weekend GUTS bus service is maintained.
Funding for the University’s GUTS service currently comes from two separate sources: the University runs shuttles during the week but services on the weekend are paid for with student funds. The SAC-sponsored account which funded weekend GUTS service for the past four years will run out before contracts are signed for the fall semester, leaving students with even fewer weekend transportation options.
The University should already be providing this essential service to members of Georgetown’s on-campus student population. As a school that boasts access to D.C.’s political and cultural opportunities Georgetown should do all it can to minimize the negative effects of our neighborhood’s limited transportation options.
However, turning over funding and management of weekend services to Georgetown administrators almost certainly cannot be accomplished before the fall semester. GUSA, SAC, and other student advisory boards will need to work together to find the funds to continue this essential service before it can be turned over to University management. As part of a recent agreement with GUSA, SAC has consented to spend down its reserve funds over the course of the next three years. Coordinating with other advisory boards, SAC should use some of these reserves to temporarily fund weekend GUTS services.
GUSA has promised to conduct a survey about weekend GUTS usage, a good first steptowards giving student groups hard data about how vital this service is to the University community and giving administrators insight into which times and weekend routes are most often used by students. Hopefully this data will convince the University to step up and fund weekend service in the future.
Until then, GUSA and SAC, who were partially responsible for the financial mismanagement that caused this situation, must put aside their differences and prove to University administrators that weekend service is essential to on-campus student life at Georgetown.
