At last month’s student senate meeting, a resolution was passed to support the implementation of a $0.93 fee for Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority bus passes. If this policy is implemented, students will be able to use their Eagle IDs for unlimited use of the AAATA bus line.
Student Body Vice President Nino Monea explained that the bus passes would cost the student body $0.93 per credit hour, per semester. This is in comparison to the flat rate of an AAATA bus pass that can cost up to $58 for a 30-day pass according to the AAATA website.
“This is not going to be a ‘tax increase,’” Monea said. He explained that the $0.93 will be added in with the annual tuition increase.
Sophomore nursing major Allison Coucke says she does not mind the $0.93 per credit hour charge.
“I’m all for [bus passes],” Coucke said. “I would use it a lot, and it would be easier to get around.”
According to Student Body President Desmond Miller, “The purpose of the $0.93 is to show how much the students need and want these passes.”
Monea and Miller both expressed that the bus passes serve as a small solution to the parking problem on campus.
“Roughly 1,000 students live on the bus route,” Monea said. “If these students take the bus, that frees up parking spots.”
Nicole deBeaubien, a 2012 Eastern Michigan University graduate, says that she thinks the bus passes are a great idea.
“I commuted from Ann Arbor for a few years, and it was expensive to take the bus,” deBeaubien said. “I remember the mention of making our ID cards into bus passes like at U of M, but nothing came of it while I was there. I would have been more than happy to pay $0.93 per credit hour rather than $3 every time I went to and from campus.”
Monea said this is a policy nearly four years in the making. It was first on the university’s radar in 2010,and was brought up because it was something University of Michigan students already had access to.
Sophomore special education major Lydia Feld says she has no problem paying $0.93 per credit hour for a bus pass. She feels access to the AAATA bus system would benefit the safety of the EMU community.
“Buses are a safer alternative to walking from place to place,” Feld said.
“One of the hopes is that students will explore Ypsilanti more frequently if they have access to the busses,” Miller said.
Monea agreed with Miller, saying, “It’s good to get to know the city you are in. [Ypsilanti] is a city that has a lot to offer.”
Feld said she would be more inclined to explore the city if she had easy access to the AAATA bus line.
Monea and Miller said that the hope is to have the bus passes implemented by winter semester 2014.
