Saluki Express route eight, which has the lowest ridership of all routes, should be given more money to support it or done away with altogether, a Mass Transit Advisory Board member says.

Adam Kantrovich, former Graduate and Professional Student Council president and a Mass Transit Advisory Board member said if route eight, which replaced the old Night Safety Transit System, is not given more money, it should be eliminated.

The Night Safety Transit System ran 20-minute routes after dark from SIUC to Evergreen Terrace, Southern Hills and the Towers. A van is still used for point-to-point pick-ups for women at night.

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Route eight, part of the new mass transit system, picked up the regular night safety van’s routes but expanded it to more places off campus.

Kantrovich said the $5,040 in student fees previously used by the night transit van should now help fund route eight. The Campus Fee Safety Board voted to give the mass transit system $2,500 of the night transit funds, but Kantrovich said that is not enough.

The money we have now will be to keep the route alive, he said. If it was up to me, we would drop this route.

Kantrovich said the average ridership over a two-week period for route one, which has the most ridership, is 5,085 while route eight’s average is 147.

We expanded the route of night safety but it is useless compared to other ridership, he said. Something isn’t right. The money that goes to this route would be better if it went to other places.

Mike Nolan, Chair of the Mass Transit Advisory Board, said the $2,500 is frustrating but will be enough for this semester. He said the mass transit system is not designed to run into a deficit.

We’re going to try to make up the loss with advertising, Nolan said.

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But, Jeffrey Duke, assistant administrator for the mass transit system, said the $2,500 was more than he planned to get and he was glad to reach an agreement with the Campus Fee Safety Board.

Route eight used to be run by night safety and students paid a fee for that, Duke said. It would have been nice to transfer that amount but this is an equitable solution.

Undergraduate Student Government Chief-of-Staff Scott Pfeiffer said the Campus Fee Safety Board questioned if the money that mass transit wants could be used elsewhere.

Pfeiffer said the fees used for the Night Transit System were for safety measures and the Campus Fee Safety Board did not know if the mass transit was a safety measure. He said the Mass Transit Advisory Board and the Campus Fee Safety Board came to a compromise over the funds.

We would rather see them (mass transit) make the money through advertisement, Pfeiffer said. Giving them the $2,500 was more than fair.