At a transportation town hall meeting last Wednesday, Dec. 3, ASMC representatives and staff members presented an update on the process for giving AC transit bus passes to students. Representatives from ASMC, Public Safety, other staff members and about 20 students attended the meeting.
Barbara Haber, interim associate vice president of Planning and Facilities Management, explained that at this time the portion of the Mills population taking advantage of the bus passes still needs to be defined before further action can be taken. Students asked about the cost of the bus passes and whether that cost could come out of student fees but Haber said that it is still too early in the process to know specific numbers.
“Your input on these things is really valuable,” said Katie Johnson, sustainability senator for the ASMC.
An AC transit survey sent out to all students before the Thanksgiving holidays asked questions about how often bus lines were used and who would use bus lines. According to Haber, there were a “statistically outstanding” number of students who filled out the survey. Out of roughly 1500 students, 364 students took the survey.
“That’s an amazing feat,” said Haber. “It says a lot about Mills students.”
The results of the survey will be analyzed by AC Transit and the proposal for giving students bus passes is expected to be brought before the AC Transit Board of Directors by mid-December.
Since the transportation meeting, Johnson has given different scenarios for what portion of the Mills population would take advantage of the bus passes to the marketing department at AC Transit in order to get pricing possibilities. Scenarios take into account the inclusion or exclusion of graduate students and trans-bay bus service.
