Students may be seeing an increase in required fees for the expansion of the campus’ mass transit system, according to a Student Government resolution passed Wednesday.
The resolution will be presented to the University Office of Parking and Transportation Services and the Division of Student Life and Enrollment, urging an investigation of a fee increase to improve Tiger Trails.
According to the Office of Budget and Planning, students now pay a $35 mass transit fee under required fees, but may be paying about $71 for Parking and Transportaion to keep the same service, SG Director of Transportation Brenden Copley said.
The University’s bus system’s contract will be up for renewal and to keep the current service, student fees need to be increased to meet the service’s higher prices, Copley said.
While the service would stay the same with the increase, the current contract, that was written five years ago, did not anticipate inflation and pay raises for drivers and managers. These factors combined meet the need for a fee raise, Copley said.
However, the change could improve the mass transit system. Currently, there are 23 buses in the fleet, and the increase would allow for an expansion in fleet size. Copley said Parking and Transportation would like to upgrade all the buses to larger models, which would cost roughly $450,000 for each new bus.
Copley is working with Director of Parking, Traffic and Transportation Gary Graham to draft a new contract and an online survey for students. The survey is to gauge the opinions of students about the possible fee increase.
“If students are not in support, there will not be a fee increase,” Copley said.
Parking and Transportation is looking for ways to manage the transit system so students won’t be forced to pay more for the same service they are receiving.
Copley and Graham have researched alternative bus options like using other companies that provide cheaper service or the University fueling the buses themselves, which can be added to the new contract.