Bus ride a solo adventure
Route intended to serve cinema.

By 9:35 p.m. Friday, Doc Ock was blowing bubbles in the East River when Simon Cowell left the Hollywood Theaters.

Cowell, 26, sought to catch the 10 p.m. bus that would carry him beyond the traffic on Stadium Boulevard and to his home. When Cowell asked the theater ticket agent where the bus picks up, she said she didn’t know.

He pulled out a bus schedule and noticed the next bus wouldn’t arrive until 10:10 or so.

"It would almost be quicker to walk," Cowell said, but then looked out to the parking lot and the black unknown beyond that. Two miles separated him from home, at least his U.S. home.

Cowell is from a modest village in south England, Keyhaven. He knows there is always some drama when public transportation is involved. Would the last bus show up? Would he find out where to catch it? On his way to the theater, he noted the fare was reasonable, compared with fares of $1.75 to $2 in the United Kingdom.

There would be few sidewalks, and a shortage of streetlights between the theater and his residence hall at the University of Missouri-Columbia. So he waited, while the other moviegoers walked to cars.

Cowell noticed it had been tough to catch Columbia Transit’s Purple Line earlier in the day to get to the theater. He caught driver Maggie Hamilton when he saw her bus on the MU campus. After reaching the Hollywood Theaters at 7 p.m., he and waded through crowds of junior high school and high school kids loitering outside.

"One for ‘Spiderman,’ " he told the clerk.

After 2 hours and 20 minutes of fisticuffs, special effects and romance, Cowell was again waiting for the bus. When it arrived, he strode up to Hamilton, the driver, and offered her a review before handing over his 50-cent fare.

"It was torture, wasn’t it?" Cowell said, relating the struggle Peter Parker faced trying to live a normal life while being Spiderman.

Hamilton said the movie was "OK," but thought the love story was too mushy. As she talked, she looked for four children who had ridden the bus earlier that day to the theater. They hadn’t returned yet.

Hamilton closed the bus door at 10:13 p.m. to take Cowell toward his home.

As he was on his trip to the movies, Cowell was the solo rider on the Purple Line. Bus drivers say the Purple Line, which started in June 7, has been slow because MU students haven’t returned to campus.

The route had 163 riders in June and 256 riders in July, which is low. Some drivers say busier routes will have 30 or 40 riders on a single trip.

Hamilton said Thursday night she had $1.50 in fares, the equivalent of three riders.

The verdict is still out about whether the Purple Line hours will be extended to midnight to increase ridership and make it easier to catch connecting buses to and from the theater, said Ken Koopmans, who oversees Columbia Transit.

The Columbia City Council will have to decide whether it wants to increase the subsidy for bus service. The effectiveness of the Purple Line will be re-evaluated next year, Koopmans said. The line includes stops at Schnucks supermarket, the Hollywood, off Stadium Boulevard near Highway 63, and the Forum 8 Theater, near Stadium and Forum Boulevard.

Meanwhile, MU has agreed to publicize the Purple Line to incoming students in their "welcome’ packet as well as on display boards at MU’s Brady Commons.

Koopmans said he tried to adjust the Purple Line schedule to fit in with start times for movies, but it’s difficult .

"Spiderman 2," for example, lasted 2 hours, 20 minutes - just long enough for Cowell to miss the 9:15 p.m. bus.

When Cowell’s bus arrived, the junior high school and high school students weren’t impressed. "I’ve got a car. I drive," said Nick Hughes, 16.

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Reach Dave Moore at (573) 815-1708 or dmoore@tribmail.com.

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