DeKalb residents may be able to use the Huskie Safe Line after an ordinance was unanimously passed at Monday night’s city council meeting. 

This year, the City of DeKalb plans to integrate the Huskie Safe Line and replace it with public transit routes that would be available to students and residents, according to the Jan. 27 city council agenda. 

The Huskie Safe Line is a free shuttle service that runs from 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m Monday through Sunday. The safe line is available to NIU students, faculty and staff as well as community members with disabilities, according to the NIU Huskie Safe Line website. 

The original intergovernmental agreement for integrated transit services that was established on Oct. 22, 2018, didn’t include the Huskie Safe Line, just the Huskie Bus Lines and the city of DeKalb’s TransVAC service. 

DeKalb Transit Manager Marcus Cox said the specifics, such as a new route, of the safe line being integrated are still being discussed with the university. 

In the original agreement, an additional bus service cost $434,400, NIU’s contribution was  $173,760.00. That additional bus service turned into the Huskie Safe Line and will now only cost $253,400 and NIU will pay $101,360, according to the city council agenda. 

NIU’s annual contribution to the integrated transit service decreased from $2,162,343.84 to $2,090,000. NIU will make payments of $232,222.22 throughout the first nine months of 2020 to the city. 

No council members discussed the ordinance at Monday night’s meeting but City Manager Bill Nicklas called the ordinance “a cleanup item” that was needed for the intergovernmental agreement.