University officials are addressing concerns after the Georgia Southern bus stop that was once located in front of the Cambridge at Southern apartment complex was relocated. The university’s remarks came as thousands of students petitioned to reverse the bus stop change.  

The bus stop, originally located in front of Cambridge apartments, is now relocated between Kennedy Hall and Southern Courtyard. The relocation resulted in a 0.4-mile walk from the Cambridge apartments to the new stop, which can be seen below.

“The university itself decided, as a safety factor, to move all the bus routes closer into the perimeter of the campus. That’s the bottom line,” said Robert Babot, the Assistant Director of Parking & Transportation, during Student Government Association’s (SGA) first senate meeting of the semester on Aug. 18.

“The relocation was made to improve student safety by moving the stop away from heavy traffic on Lanier Drive” said Alexis Smith, SGA’s Vice President of Business and Finance, when addressing the reasoning for the bus stop change.

The concerns started when Cambridge at Southern notified its residents on Aug. 12 via email that the Georgia Southern Office of Parking & Transportation had relocated the Southern Express bus stop. This notice came less than 24 hours before fall 2025 classes began. 

The email claims that Cambridge at Southern was told about the removal of the bus the same day the email was sent to residents. The email reads in part, “This change was based on feedback from a student survey conducted by the Student Government Association (SGA) in April 2025.” The email encourages residents to “Reach out to the University’s Office of Parking and Transportation and the Student Government Association directly for further details…”

When the George-Anne asked if SGA or Parking & Transportation was responsible for the bus route change, Babot responded by saying that the decision was a “collaboration of the two.” 

George-Anne staff then asked for more information regarding the survey. Babot said in part, “Right now, from what I understand, at last count, we were between 250 and 300 responses on the survey…So we didn’t get a whole lot. The amount of response, the feedback, did not justify maintaining the route like it originally was, and that’s what prompted us to move forward with the changes.” He went on to say, “We will not be making any changes to the routes this year, for sure.”

The George-Anne is working to obtain more information on what the alleged survey specifically addressed and who it was sent to. In the meantime, George-Anne staff spoke to dozens of students, none of whom were aware of the survey or claimed to have filled it out. 

During this investigation, the George-Anne staff obtained the minutes from SGA’s last scheduled meeting of the spring 2025 semester on Apr. 14. According to those minutes, the Student Government was called to vote on a proposed change and/or maintain the current bus routes. This vote included the gold route, which ensured that Southern Express would continue to service Cambridge apartments. As of Aug. 19, the minutes are no longer available on the SGA official website, but can be seen below.

The George-Anne staff scheduled a meeting with Smith, hoping to gain more information regarding the survey, the context surrounding the noted safety concerns, and why the bus stop was moved, regardless of SGA voting to keep the stop at Cambridge apartments last semester. We also intended to ask about SGA’s process and voting power regarding changing university bus routes. Smith, however, canceled the scheduled interview due to needing to “speak with [the SGA] president” before meeting. At the time of publication, we have yet to hear back.

When asked when information regarding the bus route change was made available, Communication and Engagement Strategist April Burke stated, “It was late July, because we have to update routes on the campus map, and Passio GO! First Transit has to drive them and make sure that the times work for the shuttle stop.”

“It is deeply disappointing for the over 1,000 student residents of Cambridge at Southern who are affected by this change, as well as residents of Axis across the street.  We believe this decision should have been better communicated at the time it was made, so we and our residents would have had an opportunity to weigh in at that time,” said Angie Harkins, General Manager at Cambridge at Southern – The Palms. “We recognize the bus stop location in our community is a benefit to our residents, especially considering the prior investment in the bus stop and crosswalk for residents to safely access this service.”

Following the changes, students created a petition to attempt to bring back the Southern Express bus stop outside of Cambridge. At the time of publication, there are over 1,300 signatures. The petition can be found here.

For more information on the bus routes on the Statesboro campus, click here.

Student Reactions

“It was not a good choice to make it so secretive; a lot of students didn’t know that the bus route changed at the last minute. It was a big middle finger to those students.” —Jalen Brown, Cambridge Resident.

“I hate it. I’m going to be late today, because I have to walk all the way to the other bus stop, and then stand there, and wait for the bus.” —Kaleena Blackwell, Cambridge Resident.

“Honestly, a weird decision made by the campus. It doesn’t make sense that most students in one of the largest living areas now have to walk in ninety-degree temperatures. It’s a bit ridiculous.” —William Boyd, Cambridge Resident.

“I wish buses were here. I like getting a walk in, but it would be a nice alternative.” —Jake Budnick, Cambridge Resident.

“I’m not happy. Now I have to walk half a mile to get to the closest bus stop.” —Evan McCord, Axis Resident.