Guilford won’t be contracting with Greensboro Transit Authority again just yet.

In May of this year, Guilford ended its contract with GTA that allowed students to ride the HEAT and GTA buses for free. On Sept. 1, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Aaron Fetrow sent out a proposal to GTA for a similar contract, this time on the Route 7 bus that runs on Friendly Ave. Community Senate ultimately rejected the contract.

Route 7 goes as far out as Friends Homes and all the way back to the depot downtown. Access to this route would allow students to visit Friendly Center, Greensboro College and downtown Greensboro.

“I guess the idea behind the offer is that that is the line that is used most by Guilford students,” said senior and Community Senate Clerk/President Yahya Alazrak. “And so if they were to let us use one line, that’s the one that makes the most sense.”

The offer was for $22,500 a year, with half of the cost covered by the college and the other half covered by Community Senate.

“(That) is still half of what the HEAT bus was costing,” Alazrak said.

The proposed contract accounted for 30,000 rides a year, breaking down to 80 to 170 rides per day, depending on if it runs only during the school year.

In an email, Fetrow said that the new system would have gone into action within two weeks of being approved had Community Senate not decided against the contract on Nov. 16.

The majority of Community Senate felt that the contract was too limiting, as it would only give access to one route; getting anywhere other than downtown would take money and bus hopping.

“I just don’t see how we can justify spending this much money,” said junior and Community Senate Treasurer Karen Turner. “It’s not providing, on the whole, the accessibility that would justify spending this much money.”

However, not all of Community Senate was opposed to the contract — sophomore Daniel Raeder was in favor of the contract.

“I think that the contract could potentially be a good groundwork to work on much needed transportation education at Guilford,” said Raeder in an email. “GTA’s track record in dealing with Guilford has not been the best, and I think considering this as a jumping-off point for further negotiations should be considered.”

Instead, Community Senate decided to stick with a plan that started shortly after the HEAT Bus contract ended — buying a large number of monthly bus passes for students to check out.

The bus passes were originally kept in the Campus Life office but will now be moved down to the Info Desk for students to check out whenever they need them. To get a bus pass for the day, you need to go to the Info Desk and sign your name and give your G number. According to Alazrak, there were originally 50 passes that would be available at the Info Desk. As of November 29, the passes can be found at the Info Desk in Founders.

While discussion on the proposed contract has ended and students currently have a public transportation option, there may be further discussions on transportation in Community Senate in the future.

“There is much work to be done on transportation at Guilford, and I have faith that we will, as a community, come together to solve it,” said Raeder. “But the solution is not going to be found in this contract.”