Discussion of an off-campus night transit system has been floating around Auburn for years, but until this year it was only talk. Jacob Watkins, Auburn University’s current SGA president, incorporated a plan of a night transit into his platform during his campaign last year. Sarah Molony, the SGA vice president, was also involved with creating the logistics of the system.

Students must have liked this idea because they voted both Watkins and Molony into office.

Over the summer, Watkins and Molony immediately went to work to make the system a success. First, they researched other universities that have similar systems already in place, some of which were an inspiration for the idea. Second, they needed to figure out the best way to provide the money that would support the system. Watkins said they knew finances were going to be their biggest issue.

After brainstorming for ways to supply the money, they decided to present the system to the Auburn University Board of Trustees. The board liked the idea and pushed for funds that eventually became the financial basis of "Toomer’s Ten."

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Toomer’s Ten runs Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., and the buses run approximately every 30 minutes. There are seven routes and 10 buses that pick up at most of the off-campus housing and drop off at Toomer’s Corner. The buses also run to the Hill, Quad and New Village dorms, as well as the library.

Although currently the destination of most of the buses’ passengers is the bars downtown, SGA has been stressing that the system is also useful to get around for those who don’t have cars or those who don’t want to worry about parking.

This semester is 'Toomer’s Ten’s' trial run. At the end of the semester, SGA is planning on calculating the decrease in DUI’s and the statistics of how many students have been using the system. So far, it has been successful. Watkins reported that 'Toomer’s Ten' has been averaging 2,000 students a week, and 1,500 students used it last Friday alone.

Sarah Justice, a senior at Auburn, said she uses it every time she goes downtown at night.

“My friends and I have been talking about something like this ever since we moved off campus, and I’m so excited that SGA was able to put "Toomer's Ten" together," Justice said.

When describing his feelings about 'Toomer’s Ten', Watkins said, “This system has been a great addition to Auburn. SGA is very proud of how things have been going so far, and I’m glad I could be a part of it.”