A few more students are huffing it to campus this year on foot - or by riding a bike, a Whatcom Transportation Authority (WTA) bus, or by car. Despite providing nearly 200,000 rides for students, faculty and staff during the 2005-2006 school year, Western's daytime shuttle ended June 16, 2006 because of budget constraints, according to the official announcement released by Western's Parking and Transportation office.
According to the WTA Web site, at least five routes service the same stops along Bill McDonald Parkway that the shuttle abandoned. But with an increase in the price of a full year academic bus pass from $50 to $90, it seems that students were hit with a one-two transportation punch.
The cancellation of the shuttle and increase in the price of the bus pass makes choosing alternative transportation more difficult for many students.
However, an increase in price was inevitable, said Kevin McClain, Associated Students (AS) Vice President of Campus and Community Affairs. With the recent purchase of the off-campus Lincoln Creek Park and Ride site, the Parking and Transportation Office at Western could no longer afford to fund the Route 90 service, which operates between Lincoln Creek and campus. The WTA stepped in to preserve the route, but because bus fares rose citywide, student pass prices increased as well.
Though a lack of funds was the official reason for canceling the shuttle, a lack of student interest also played a role.
"I'm in support of not having [the shuttle] right now," said Jesse Jarosz, Western senior and organizer of Western's Sustainable Transportation club. He said the shuttle wasn't a good fit for the small campus, and that it didn't fit well into long term planning goals.
If students expressed more interest in maintaining shuttle operation, the AS Board would have looked into instituting a student fee to continue service, McClain said. The board already had made a $50,000 contribution in 2005 to partially fund shuttle service throughout 2005 to 2006, with the understanding that the university would look for alternate sources of funding for subsequent years. However, the search was unsuccessful.
"When we were looking for permanent, sustainable funding for the shuttle none was forthcoming," said Carol Berry, Western's alternative transportation coordinator.
A proposed student transportation fee is one option to address the availability of student transit choices while widening sustainable transportation opportunities.
Chartered in November 2005, the AS Transportation Advisory Board is studying how to improve campus transportation. The committee hopes to put a proposed Alternative Transportation Fee Initiative to a student vote next spring. The AS Board voted on the proposed fee last year, but rejected it 5-2.
The transportation fee would add approximately $25 to each student's quarterly tuition, McClain said, up from the $19 fee the board voted on last year. The fee would provide a bus pass for every student as well as improve night bus service. A third portion of the fee would be used to support sustainable transportation efforts, such as providing more bike racks on campus and improving sidewalks for pedestrians. The mandatory fee would be noticeably cheaper than an individual purchase of a bus pass, Berry said.
"Basically [it's] buying in bulk," she said.
The University of Washington put a similar system into action in 1991. The U-Pass is an inclusive transportation package granting access to a variety of transportation choices, among them bus, train and night shuttle service. Since implementation of the U-Pass program, UW has had a 20 percent student population increase, yet counts 2,000 fewer cars on campus, said Peter Dewey, assistant director of transportation services at UW.
"As the population has gone up, demand for parking has gone down," Dewey said.
The UW is not the only publicly funded school in Washington to implement a student fee in order to fund alternative transportation options for students. According to their respective Web sites, Washington State University and The Evergreen State College have similar fees built into their tuition. Western is one of three public universities in Washington that has still failed to adopt a fee.
As an institution recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as one of the nations top purchasers of green energy, it is surprising that Western lags behind in providing comprehensive sustainable transportation options.
Including a transportation fee in student tuition is not a new idea. According to a study released by Western's Campus Parking and Transportation in August 1992, 68 percent of students surveyed that year indicated they were "very interested" in including a bus pass as part of tuition. Fourteen years later, users are still buying bus passes individually as the debate continues.
Students meet the question of a fee with mixed feelings.
"I think [I would] if it was $25, since we're paying $90 now," Western sophomore Burnley Dluhosh said, when asked if she'd be willing to pay a quarterly fee. Others disagree.
"I don't think I should have to pay for everyone," Western junior Michael Stewart said. "It's not worth the extra money since I walk anyway,"
A difference between Western's proposal and the 15-year-old U-Pass program is the political support. The UW administration fueled the U-pass proposal while transportation agencies and students supported the program. At Western, students have been the force behind fee support, while the administration remains in the background, McClain said.
>"Most of the research has been done by students," he said. "If the students decided to drop the idea of a transportation fee, then [the administration] would probably drop it too."
Another proposed solution to Western's transportation dilemma is to build a parking garage. With only a thirty-year life span, and a cost of nearly $25,000 per parking stall, such a project is extremely expensive, McClain said.
Furthermore, 28 acres of Western's 177-acre central campus is already comprised of parking surfaces and access to them, Berry said. A parking garage would consume even more acreage on campus, taking away from open space and room for academic buildings.
Despite slow progress, some statistics are promising. According to a survey published in the Transportation Planning Initiatives Task Force report for 2005-2006, driving alone to campus decreased 16 percent between 1992 and 2003. During those same years mass transit use increased by 22 percent.
"It's a big job," Berry said. "It doesn't happen in one year, or four."
It's a job that Jarosz, Berry and McClain are committed to, as shown through their work in sustainable campus transportation projects.
"The students can prioritize the changes that happen on campus," McClain said.
However, active student awareness is difficult to create, Jarosz continued. He said students need more transportation information.
"I don't think I've seen a big effort to get information out," Western senior Leslie Anton said. She said she feels student advocates, rather than the university, are the ones making the most effort to spread the word about transportation issues.
Western has a student enrollment of about 13,000 for the 2006-2007 school year and approximately 3,900 students live on campus. This means that 9,100 students are traveling to campus each day, each with individual transportation needs.
Western no longer has the option to drag its feet on the road to efficient and sustainable transportation. Now is the time to take decisive action or concede to being left in the dust.