The Monarch Shuttle Bus, a mode of transportation for over 100 ETSU students, is no longer allowed to drive on campus streets and must utilize the outskirts of campus to drop off and pick up students – a situation that students living at Monarch have called “inconvenient” in terms of getting to and from class.
“ETSU is working with Monarch, Johnson City Transit and others to provide the most cost-efficient and safe means of transportation for our students residing at that complex,” ETSU spokesman Joe Smith said. “Those conversations are continuing. Presently, a shuttle bus from Monarch is utilizing designated drop-off points on our campus.”
At the beginning of the academic year, the Monarch Shuttle Bus used the same route as the Red Route Bucshot. Monarch Property Manager Claudia Cocoba said they received an email from ETSU in early September that said the Monarch Shuttle Bus was creating traffic and causing the Bucshot to be late.
“Traffic congestion has been the concern,” Smith said. “We have the Bucshot service that is used for the purpose of transporting students around campus. It is important that we have a process in place for any outside group that wants to operate a shuttle service to campus.”
“We weren’t taking any longer or holding anyone on,” Cocoba said.
ETSU told Monarch their bus could use one stop on campus, which is near Kroger. The stop is located in the parking lot adjacent to the Basler Team Challenge & Aerial Adventure Course and Summers-Taylor Stadium: Lot 20.
“In our discussions with Monarch about allowing its shuttle to access campus, Monarch agreed to use Lot 20 as a drop-off point,” Smith said. “From there, students could access Bucshot and be taken to where they need to go on campus.”
“Lot 20 is an area of campus that experiences less traffic than others,” Smith said. “The majority of streets on campus are high-volume traffic areas, especially during peak times of the day. Lot 20 was identified as the best location for a drop-off point because it is easily accessed from State of Franklin Road, has a covered bus stop, and results in the least disruption to traffic on campus.”
In addition to the one stop, the Monarch Shuttle Bus is not permitted to travel on any major campus streets owned by ETSU. However, Cocoba visited an attorney who said they can still legally drive on several city-owned streets that circle campus – Southwest Avenue, Gilbreath Drive, J. L. Seehorn Road and West Walnut Street. Instead of using the one stop, the bus has been circling campus using these city-owned streets as well as South Greenwood Drive, Go Bucs Trail and State of Franklin Road, in which students are dropped off and picked up at various stop signs and crosswalks.
Although the bus can circle campus, it takes students longer to walk to class because they are dropped off at the edges of campus instead of near their class buildings. With this new route, the bus – which used to run every 15 minutes – now runs every 30 minutes or so.
Cocoba said she has seen students walking to campus after missing the bus because they do not have time to wait for the route to start over. She said students are angry and inconvenienced because they cannot be picked up as quickly.
“A lot of our students are complaining about it,” Student Government Association Senator and Monarch resident Elaine Patel said.
Patel said the main way the new route has affected students is that they are forced to walk longer distances, which gives them less time to get to class.
“It’s really the time constraint,” Patel said. “So, for a lot of students, they have to take a 30-minute early bus, and most of them have started driving because they don’t want to wake up an extra 30 minutes [early].”
Graduate student Jyoti Behra said the previous route was more convenient for him because he could take the bus directly to his class, which took about 5 minutes.
“Now if I want to come back, I have to take the whole trip, and it costs me another 20 minutes,” Behra said. “And the thing is that the stop I am taking is like another 5 to 10 minutes walking to my building. So, it’s really inconvenient for me, and sometimes I have to rush to the class; or I’m already late. I have even missed my class twice.”
Freshman Joshua Johnson said the situation was worse when it first happened, especially for students like him, who do not own cars.
“Getting to class on time was like an act of God,” Johnson said. “Because the way the bus runs, my classes were right near the stops. So, [the bus driver] would drop us off, and I had like 5 minutes to run into class real quick; but where the stops [are] off-campus now, I’m bound to be late based on the times that the bus runs.”
Cocoba said there are two disabled students who live at Monarch who are also inconvenienced by the situation.
“The ones that are handicapped; some days my husband – he’s a maintenance supervisor – will give them a ride right to [campus] because they can’t rent a car ride to get there,” Cocoba said. “So, we’ll give them a ride to the place where they’re going or pick them up.”
In previous years, Monarch 815 Apartments, like Student Quarters and University Edge, used the Bucshot through ETSU and the Johnson City Transit System to transport their students to campus. In February, Monarch’s old property managers foreclosed the property, and Tarantino Properties came in as the new property managers. Tarantino Inc. decided to purchase their own independent shuttle bus instead of using the Bucshot.
After Tarantino Properties took over the Monarch Property, Cocoba said they received a letter from ETSU in July requesting the Monarch Shuttle Bus to cease and desist from operating or providing their services on campus. The letter also said Tarantino Properties owed ETSU $36,110 for unpaid shuttle services.
Cocoba said the previous property owners neglected to pay for the use of the Johnson City Transit System’s Bucshot for the 2018 to 2019 academic year. However, Cocoba said because the previous owners foreclosed the property, Tarantino Properties – as a new management – are not responsible for any fees from the past. Tarantino replied to ETSU’s letter explaining this was not their debt.
Cocoba said when they were initially told to use one stop, they ignored the request and continued to use the Red Route. Within a week of going against ETSU’s request, Campus Police served Monarch with a notice that said the Monarch Shuttle Bus cannot drive on streets owned by ETSU, and if they do, they will get pulled over.
After receiving the request to use one stop, a representative of Tarantino Properties reached back out to ETSU asking to find another way to resolve the issue. Cocoba said they did not receive a response.
Patel said regardless of the arguments between both parties, ETSU and Monarch need to find a solution and make a compromise for the sake of the students.
“They’re both at fault,” Patel said. “Mainly, I would put a little bit more blame on Monarch.”
“According to the email, it says that ETSU told Monarch not to do it, and they advised them not to, yet they went ahead and did it,” Patel said. “So, I think the past is the past. It doesn’t matter what happens. Between the crossfires, the ETSU students that live at Monarch are being victimized due to this. So, I think they should just come up with a resolve.”
