FrontRunner would be included in the Ed Pass
The Ed Pass surveys are in. Click on here or on the what’s new link above to see the tally and leave your comments.
Background:
If you haven’t heard, the Ogden-Weber tech college is considering signing up for UTA’s Ed Pass Program. Ed Passes provide college students with unlimited transportation on all UTA busses, FrontRunner and Trax. The only thing it does not include are ski buses and Para transit.
We did a survey back in August and had over 400 surveys returned. Overwhelmingly, students and employees wanted us to sign up for the program…and by overwhelming, I mean that 96.8% said “Yes!”
So we were excited to implement UTA’s program, and then some things changed with how the contract works and we had to go back to the drawing board. We would still like to offer this benefit if enough students really want it. The purpose of this blog is to let you know what the deal is, why we have to structure it a particular way, and to ask for your feedback.
How it works:
The first thing you should know is that the program is pretty expensive for the college, but not so expensive when you spread it across all students. Each college that signs up for it has to pay UTA a flat fee to participate. What the universities do is pass this cost along to students by way of student fees. Students do not realize they are being charged for this benefit specifically, and then every student receives a “free” pass. The reason we have to charge everyone is that we have to meet the contract amount from UTA. If students are allowed to opt in or opt out, then not enough students will sign up to pay for the program. The only way to fund it is through student fees.
Cost per student:
We figured that we would have to charge all students who have a schedule on our campus a $25 fee once per year. This year, it would be charged in January, and the UTA Ed Passes would be good until August, as long as the student remains enrolled.
What’s the value?
As of December, 2008, a monthly bus pass from UTA costs $74.50. If you want to add FrontRunner, it goes up to $175 each month. This makes the value of the pass from January through August $1,400. A one-way bus fare is currently $2.25 and a round trip on FrontRunner is $11 from Ogden to Salt Lake. A day pass for busses is $5.50. So if you use public transportation at all, it would pay for itself very fast. Remember that just last summer, a tank of gas in an economy car was over $50. Yikes!
How are Ed passes used?
Starting this year, the Ed Passes from UTA have a little chip that allows students to tap on and tap off of public transportation. Students must carry valid student identification while riding UTA with the pass. They are not transferrable to other people. They are only available for students, not family members. The passes are good for unlimited transportation on busses, express busses, FrontRunner and Trax. The passes are good as long as you are a student, and automatically de-activate when you are no longer enrolled. If you come back before August, your pass would re-activate and you would not be charged the $25 again.
Why would everyone have to pay it?
In short, we have to charge everyone because if we do not, we cannot collect enough revenue to pay for the program. If we only charged those students who wanted a pass, the cost would be more than UTA will allow us to charge for each pass. So in short, it just doesn’t work unless it is all or nothing. Of the surveys that have been coming back, many students have said to “make it optional.” Unfortunately, “optional” isn’t an option.
Some students have asked what if they don’t want to pay the $25 but we still have to charge everyone whether they will use it or not. On the plus side, it pays for itself with only three trips to Salt Lake City on FrontRunner.
We didn’t write the rules; we’re just trying to figure out whether it’s a good deal for enough students, given how it works.
What about students only enrolled a short time?
If you only attend classes on campus for, say, a month, you would be charged the same $25 as everyone else and you would get the same pass. It automatically de-activates when you are no longer enrolled in classes. If you are a student for longer, then obviously the benefit helps you a lot more.
What about employees?
Oh, and the deal for employees is that it will be $30 if they want a pass. The program was set up for students, so we do not have to charge all employees. In fact, we looked into this and found it was impossible to charge all employees, so we are charging more and making it optional.
What about high school, community education, and apprenticeship students?
High school students who have a schedule on our campus will be charged the $25 just like adults. We will not charge students who attend our classes at their high schools (such as machining students at Ogden High or drafting at Ben Lomond). We are not sure yet whether we will be able to make passes available on an optional basis to students who are not enrolled on our main campus.
We have not yet decided to do with apprenticeship students at JATC in Salt Lake City. Apprenticeship students on our main campus would be charged $25 like everyone else. Community Ed students would not be eligible.
So what do you think?
Should we do it? Is it a benefit to you? Do you think it would benefit enough students to justify charging everyone $25? Do you have any questions? If you were in our shoes and this was your decision, what would you do? Post your comments below.
