Proposal for ACC bus passes up for vote

 Starting in January, student bus passes could be available for Austin Community College students. The Student Government Association along with the ACC administration have a committee working on a proposal to begin offering bus passes to all ACC students, faculty and staff. That proposal will be heard at the Oct. 5 board meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the Highland Business Center.

As proposed, the passes would be good for one semester and the intersession before the summer semester begins. Students would be able to ride for free. They would scan the passes and the college would be charged a reduced fare rate. This would be funded by the higher parking fee that went into effect this semester. 

"It will start with a $250,000 deposit that we hope will cover all fares between January and the fall semester of next year," SGA Vice President Mike Reid said.

If the initial $250,000 is not enough money, additional funding will come from the sustainability fee that is going into effect in the spring. It will be one dollar per credit hour. 

"Fares would be at a lower rate agreed upon by Capital Metro and ACC. The passes would be scanned and tallied, and the total at the end of every month would be deducted from the deposit if the plan is approved," Reid said.

The lower rate, 40 cents per trip, would be charged to the pass every time it is used. Passes can be used for all Capital Metro bus services including MetroRail once it is running. 

Students will swipe their pass, and the ride will be logged, every month ACC will make a retainer payment to Capital Metro out of the $250,000.

Along with the new passes, students would also have to present the driver with their ACC ID. Lost passes will cost $25 to replace, but damaged passes will be replaced for free. 

Previously, student passes have been available from Capitol Metro at a discounted monthly rate per. The passes were discontinued because of abuse, including non-student purchases, and because of the raise in fares in Oct. 2008. University of Texas students still receive free bus fare when they present UT student ID because of a contract the University has with Capitol Metro. 

Currently, approximately 5,000 ACC students, faculty and staff use Capital Metro.

"We are hoping that this program will help to increase the use of Capital Metro (bus) services," said Ben Ferrell, executive vice president of finance and administration for ACC.  The bus pass program is one of several new programs proposed under the sustainability initiatives that were approved in February of 2009.

Ferrell will be presenting the plan for the pass program at the Board of Trustees meeting.