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May
25
Student Leadership Funds 2 University Transit Systems
Filed Under Feature Stories, Financing University Systems, Success Stories, University Transit
Texas Tech
At the April 2008 APTA University Conference, Austin Pennington, the Vice President of the Student Government Association at Texas Tech proved what students can accomplish when they are truly motivated. In this case they found a way to fund an university transit system from the ground up.
Seven years ago it became glaringly evident that Texas Tech needed some form of organized public transportation. There was an overwhelming amount of drunken college drivers on the road resulting in accidents and DUIs.
The entire busing system was set and changed by the students. A student referendum was created to get buses on campus. In order to fund this endeavor, the students were required to pay a bus fee per credit hour on top of tuition, which generated approximately $2.4 million, $2.2 million of which were directed to transportation. The result was that of the 28,000 students attending Texas Tech, there were approximately 2 million riders per vehicle, substantially reducing the amount of accidents and DUIs, getting drunk college drivers off of the road.
Western Washington University
Devin Branson, associated students alternative transportation coordinator from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington presented their experience funding their transit system at the APTA Reno Conference. He spearheaded the initiative to create a UPass system with the town of Bellingham and their transit system.
Devin deduced that there were four possible revenue sources: individual student UPass purchases, general university funds, parking fees, and a student approved fee in which a new transit fee would be created. The students decided to create a new transit-specific fee, which paid for a universal bus pass, late night shuttle service, physical improvements to the buses themselves, as well as staff support.
With the help of the Alternative Transportation committee, Devin was able to develop a financial estimate of how much students would need to pay. Initially they determined that $28 per quarter for each student would be an accurate amount. However, the capital overhead was too high and the excess capital would have to be submitted to the federal government. Therefore, they reduced the cost to $25 per quarter for each student to avoid excess capital to turn over to the government.
The UPass bus initiative was met with 80% student approval. After determining a $25 cost per pass, the transit system had a $2 million budget to work with to fund all costs including replacement buses, fueling, and marketing the system to students.
Their goals for the future include expanding their late night shuttle buses as their top priority. They have received grant funding, but are trying to pay for the system using only student money. However, currently their biggest obstacle is that there is not enough money for replacement buses.
The most important message from the “Financing Campus Transit Services” Session was this: “Student support is essential.”
