Transit Tactics: New student focus group has responsibility to ?ensure strong advocacy for student interests

Student Body President Hogan Medlin recently issued an executive order creating the Transportation Focus Group to serve as liaison to the Department of Public Safety and issue recommendations to Medlin for the March Board of Trustees meeting.

There, DPS will present its five-year plan. The focus group will give Medlin the ability to advocate on behalf of student interests at this meeting.

In order for this new group to be taken seriously, it must provide suggestions that are realistic and balance with the needs of DPS.

Students actually underpay for the service they receive from Chapel Hill Transit.

The current Student Transit Fee of $73.50 per year provides 30 percent of the transit’s funding, while students account for a much larger share of ridership, assistant director of parking services Cheryl Stout said.

The group must make maintaining such a beneficial relationship between payments and benefits a priority.

Due to inflationary costs, capital construction projects, parking construction and increased usage, the operating costs of DPS are expected to rise from around $6.1 million to $8.6 million per year by 2015-16.

Among the options presented by DPS is a $14 per year increase in the Student Transit Fee.

The focus group should work with institutional players to determine the most appropriate role for students in supporting the budget.

In the past, students have paid much more for transit access, including a $300 yearly bus pass fee. Students may need to accept reasonable price increases lest obstinacy lead DPS and trustees to disregard their input entirely, potentially leading to higher fees.

Chapel Hill Transit represents a public good for the students of the University.

It provides a reliable means of transportation for the majority of students who do not have cars. It facilitates business, decreases traffic and lowers transaction costs.

Arming the executive branch with tools to preserve quality access for students at reasonable cost ought to be the prime objective for the focus group.