Alternate Solutions: Public transit fees for students
Several universities in the U.S. charge students a nominal fee per semester or year for a free ride on public transportation.
U.C. Berkeley’s fee is $59 per semester to ride the bus and train in and around the university area. Students can take the AC Transit line and the BART to San Francisco, Fremont and Stanford. With what they call the “Class Pass” students also get discounts on other public transportation services in the Bay Area.
According to a Fall 2005 survey, almost 90 percent of students chose to get the Class Pass (which is free but not automatically handed out). Of those surveyed, 31 percent took public transit with a majority walking to campus. But it’s not because they live on campus – more than half of students surveyed lived off-campus.
What’s more, a little less than half have a car that they use primarily for shopping and recreation. Which means that students are actually choosing to use alternative modes – walking, biking, and busing.
Although there aren’t any specific figures, an April 2009 publication from the parking and transportation department at the university estimated that over 90 percent of students and 50 percent of faculty and staff took alternative transport.
The Class Pass program was established in 1998 and was voted on in 2006 to continue for another seven years.
UNLV can take notes from Berkeley on how to, first of all, conduct a survey (the research department offers cash prizes for respondents) and go about implementing a program to promote sustainable transit.
I’d also note that what people say versus what they’d actually do can be worlds apart. When you ask a student, “Would you take the bus if it were free?” they may say no, but once you actually give them that choice, they’ll start thinking economically. Read “Nudge” by Thaler and Sunstein to learn about the glorious contradictions within each of us and how we can be nudged to do the right thing.
The subsidized fee for students is one of many options that UNLV has at its disposal to encourage students, faculty and staff to start taking alternative transit. What other ways can you think of?
Publications Cited
UC Berkeley Fall 2005 Student Transportation Survey (external PDF)
UC Berkeley Current and Future Sustainability Programs
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Cool. All urban large destinations served by transit, when they’re a single institution, should have a subsidized option for employees/students to use transit. Major employers and universities are natural fits for this.
One thing I’d say, to your notion that people who say they wouldn’t use the free bus but might if they had it available, I’d also just like to mention the possibility of people saying they’d certainly use the transit if it were free, but then due to other factors (such as the convenience factor regarding where they live or peripheral destinations they need to access), might drive them into their car. Better transit service is a key ingredient. Love the book recommendations.